Forward Unto Dawn
by Bleedndreamz
Summary: He had come so far in the shinobi world by the age of 17. However now due to the circumstances of battle against the Akatsuki, he finds himself in a place far from home. What he now knows is that all that he can do is move forward. Forward Unto The Dawn.
1. Pilot

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead

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Falling. The sense of the wind rushing through your hair. The cold breeze grazing across your skin. The panic you feel when one realizes that they are falling, likely to their death from an extremely high place. The conscious thought in a person's mind yelling at them, telling them that they are falling and they are going to die. The effect is often times a detrimental horror in it's own right. The subconscious thought of ones self knowing that they are going to die sends their entire body into a severe panic attack that proceeds further into a heart attack as their plummet to the hard ground below, often dead before the impact.

None of that was what Uzumaki Naruto felt as he dived through the sky with his eyes calm and focused. All of his senses were virtually blocked out as he slowly watched the ground approaching closer and closer. The only sound he heard was his steady heartbeat. A heartbeat that summed up the situation for the falling shinobi up into one simple fact.

He had done this before. It was during this time suspended in the air that the seventeen year old shinobi was able to reflect on his life.

The slightest frown grazed the young shinobi's features as he thought to himself how his life turned out. He thought to himself that perhaps if he had lived a different life, things would have ended up differently. Maybe if he grew up in his life playing the fool, acting the idiot. Maybe when he officially made it onto the legendary Team 7 genin team, things would have turned out differently.

Perhaps...

He wouldn't have passed the chunin exams his first time around.

Perhaps...

He wouldn't have been able to save the Old Man, The Third Hokage.

Perhaps...

He wouldn't have surpassed Sasuke so effortlessly in the shinobi arts.

Perhaps...

He wouldn't have turned down Jiraiya's offer to be his apprentice.

Perhaps...

He wouldn't have joined Anbu shortly after becoming a chunin.

Perhaps...

He wouldn't have been offered Pein's eyes to carry on his dream.

Perhaps...

He wouldn't have found Konan to become his most loyal and faithful partner.

A sudden grimace graced the warrior's features as he grew closer to the planet's surface as a stray but disappointing thought passed through his mind.

'_Perhaps..._' he began dryly in his mind as he closed his eyes blocking out the world around him. _'If I hadn't done all of those things, I may have been able to stop the Shinobi World War...'_

The blonde haired shinobi suddenly spun in mid air before a loud crash sounded across his landing zone. A giant crater formed in the ground as the short grass surrounding the field he was on literally rippled from the impact as the ground began to break apart into a fissure ever so slightly.

The Kyuubi Jinchuriki stood up slowly from the crater he formed before calmly dusting off his black mix of standard shinobi and ANBU gear before looking out carefully to where he exactly was with a thought being voiced.

"And perhaps I wouldn't have fallen for the masked man's trap..." Naruto thought dryly as he drew a kunai and began walking to the building that stood before him.

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_**Earlier that day**_

A young teenage boy unlike another was quite well grounded as he leaned on the railing of a staircase in his school, overlooking the school courtyard, but more importantly the gate. The gate of a school to many students was a symbol for many things, besides the most obvious which was the school.

Perhaps most importantly to many, It was a symbol for safety. A place parents could reliably send their children for the day, and they would know they could rest easy as the went off to their various jobs. However for Komuro Takashi, a symbol for safety was anything but what he felt the gate was.

Takashi stared off into the distance at the gate coldly as he recalled upon memories of the past. His mind wandering more to the fact that the gate before him was his freedom when it was open, and his prison when it was closed. This wasn't to say Takashi was one to follow the rules, and not find a way around the gate if he wished to, but it was the symbol that mattered to him.

These days he had taken to skipping classes entirely. Well most of them anyways. He shared far too many with his childhood friend Rei. Now for most people that may be a dream come true, sharing a class with their childhood friend that had grown to become quite the attractive woman. However there was one key fact that completely ruined any time they could share together.

His childhood friend that he had made a pinky promise to become married with had went on to date his best guy friend. To say the relationship between the three of them was in shambles would be an understatement. They were capable of acting civil around one another of course. However beyond acting civil? The three of them rarely ever talked.

"Pinky promise..." the young man said in a sing song voice as he overlooked the school courtyard from the railing he leaned against, "If you lie I'll make you swallow one thousand needles..."

He barely noticed the pink haired school genius come up beside him and call him an idiot. "Takagi?" The boy questioned in mild surprise.

The pink haired female rolled her eyes in annoyance as she moved closer to the delinquent teen. "Every time you have to face something you don't like, you always escape to the same place. That's so elementary."

"So that's what they call it these days? Escaping things I don't like? And here I thought it was simply cutting." he mused to himself no longer looking towards the pink haired arrival.

"Not funny." the light brown eyed female said in annoyance. "The first semester just started, and you have skipped nearly every class. At this rate you might as well get your things together for the supplementary classes."

It wasn't long after that when the pink haired girl dubbed Takagi began to rant on about how stupid her friend was. Something the boy had long since learned to tune out as he leaned against the railing. Although one comment pierced through his practiced ignorance.

"Whats your deal?" the pink haired girl mumbled, her previous fire in her voice fading. "Just because you got dumped by your childhood friend? That's stupid." she finished coldly before walking off with a frown on her face.

Takashi resisted the urge to flinch at that. However in the next few moments he would find that chaos would erupt at the gates of the school, and his past troubles would be the least of his worries.

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Naruto grit his teeth as he walked through whatever complex this was. He could only assume it was some form of school given the layout and the fact that there were so many teenagers walking around. But his patience was wearing thin as he walked through the large school with multiple floors.

First off would be in regards to the school. At first glance from the outside, it may appear perfectly normal. But on the inside it could only be described as death and pestilence. The mindless drones, former shells of people walking around only served to really bring him back to a world or dimension he had just left behind.

Naruto knew ever since he had joined Anbu shortly after being promoted to the rank of Chunin that dangerous things were on the horizon. The Old Man had opted to tell Naruto about his parents the moment he achieved the rank of chunin. And if he was perfectly honest, he didn't entirely know how he felt about the situation. Both of his parents died the night of the Kyuubi attack, that was simply the facts. But for Naruto it didn't shake the reality that _one_ of his parents didn't have to die that night.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had given Naruto full access to the mission report he had filled out himself that night. Naruto could tell just in the man's eyes that the aged leader was gravely sorry due to holding back information from Naruto. But as Naruto grew older, and proceeded into the more taxing areas of the shinobi profession, he realized that he likely wouldn't have lived past the age of five if it weren't for the Old Man's personal interferance with his lineage.

The documents he had gained access to were simple, yet revealing. Both of his parents died that night sealing the Kyuubi. But one of them could have lived. Whether it be if his mother just opted to sit down and let his father handle the tailed beast, and make him the next jinchuriki for Konoha. Or if his father had just allowed his mother to take a heroes death, and take the nine tailed demon with her. Instead they opted for some ridiculous middle ground where they both ended up dying, and Naruto grew up in poverty alone. To say that irked Naruto a great deal would be an understatement. The fact that the Third Hokage repeatedly told him how much they loved had loved him was the only thing that kept him from pissing on their graves.

For a boy growing up with no family what so ever? The closest thing he had to family connections were to the Old Man and the owners of the local ramen shack. To say he had learned to put the values of family and friendship over everything else would be an understatement. It was when he came to this realization as he stood face to face with the Rinnegan user that he realized that his dream to become Hokage was no longer a dream he desired.

His dream was to protect the people he held closest to him, the people that acknowledged him. That was all it had ever been. The title of Hokage was just a convenient place of power that would have given him those things. He promised himself that he would never become like his father. A man that had chosen others over his family, his loved ones. At least in Naruto's eyes. That was a man he could never grow to respect. He may have been an excellent shinobi, but that means nothing when being judged by the eyes of a son. It was probably for the very same reason he simply couldn't stand being in his _godfather's_ presence.

Naruto shook his head free of his thoughts as he flipped the kunai in his hand as he had been absentmindedly walking down the hallway filled with the walking dead. They may have been strong in contrast to the young civilians walking down the halls. But to a shinobi, to say they were a threat would be laughable.

Naruto had gone through war, a war that was still going on and he had survived. He had fought some of the trickiest and toughest opponents in the history of the shinobi world. Opponents from Hanzo the Salamander to Nagato's resurrected form in his prime.

To even reference these walking dead as a challenge with their predictable sluggish and lunging movements. That was probably an insult of the highest accord. Naruto had seen animals with more intelligence then what stood before him. It was due to that he could simply walk down the hall, kunai in hand, plunging it into the skull of the dead walking by effortlessly.

If he had a choice he knew he would have done most destructive means of clearing out the dead. Naruto held back a sneer as he rubbed a lightly glowing metal shackle on his wrist. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he focused on the shackle while side stepping an unintelligent lunge from the festering corpse that caused him to bump into the hallway window, nose first.

Supposedly indestructible metal combined with chakra absorbing and suppressing qualities found from technology of the Hidden Snow village. How he had allowed the masked man to get the jump on him, and slip this atrocity on his wrist was beyond him. But Naruto knew in his head that he would get the blasted thing off. Everything has a weakness, it was a lesson he had learned and taught throughout his shinobi career. The weakness just needed to be found.

Naruto was broken from his thoughts as the moment he kicked open the double doors before him leading onto a long overhang, he heard the most horrible scream. He hadn't heard anything so terrified since Pein's destruction of Konoha and it's civilians.

Accross the way he saw a pink haired girl with a short chubbier boy with glasses. But he could tell they weren't the source of the screams due to the boy's almost horrified gaze as he looked over to where the bridge split into a "T", a number of students that had been formerly trying to get into a room for safety found the place to be anything but.

Two of the walking dead burst forth from the doors, the one in the front viciously grabbing one of the four male students by the face tackling him to the ground giving him a thoroughly disgusting kiss on the neck. That site was all it took for the pink haired female to rush accross the overhang, leading the chubby boy closely behind her.

They seemed to be on a mission as they ran right up to the blonde shinobi with a bloody kunai in his grip. Naruto's gaze however remained on the group of teenagers being slaughtered. And it was at that point he had to ask himself, '_When did I become so desensitized to death...'_

The memory hit the shinobi like a ton of bricks.

_Naruto a young chunin that recently was selected to join the anbu division was currently sitting next to his purple haired comrade in a tall tree overlooking a large camp._

_"How can they ask us to kill all of these people Yugao-chan?" a young thirteen year old asked with his mask clipped to his mask. A mask that he had specially tailored to remind him of the boy who spared his life in Wave Country._

_"How many times must I remind you to wear your mask Uzumaki-san?" the young woman asked back in an almost teasing tone. A grave contrast to what the situation before them was asking the two of them to do._

_Naruto grumbled a bit as he adjusted the mask onto his face, waiting for certain seals on the mask to adjust and return to him his vision. "There I'm wearing my mask, your turn." he said stubbornly as he looked over a camp filled with over a good couple hundred bandits. It reminded him of the battle at the bridge all over again._

_The purple haired woman frowned behind her mask as she mulled over how to respond. "Naruto... you are going to learn as you grow older that in our line of work, people die. Sometimes for the right reasons, and sometimes for the wrong reasons. Our job is to protect the people of Konoha. Sometimes that means saving the lives of several people. And sometimes that means executing dangerous people. Both ways help."_

_Naruto and his partner sat in that tree for a good few moments in silence as Naruto let what his teacher said sink in. "But is it the right thing to do?"_

_The woman stood up as she overlooked the men and few women gathered around scattered campfires in the area, "I don't know if it is the right thing Naruto. All I know is the wrong thing is standing by doing nothing while innocents die."_

Naruto snapped back to reality as the gravity of the world came crashing back down around him.

"Hey you! Are you stupid or something? Come on, we need to move! Quit standing around!" yelled the pink haired girl as she came running at Naruto. It was only when she reached the young blond that she was actually frustrated. He hadn't moved an inch.

Naruto shook his head free of his thoughts as he looked over to the group still being attacked by the two corpses. He turned to the pink haired girl standing in front of him before he spun his kunai around in his hand and offered the young girl the handle. "Here... take it." He mumbled as he all but dropped the knife into the girl's surprised hand.

"Hey! Come back! We need to get out of here!" she yelled to the blonde with wide eyes as he rushed past her at quite incredible speeds. Although in her mind, if he was going to rush off to die, that was on him. She already had enough stupidity with Takashi for the day. And with that thought, she turned around and ran, knife in hand.

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Naruto rushed across the platform, his eyes had shifted from a calm blue sea to dark intense waters in an instant. The eyes of a battle hardened killer. Something that a seventeen year old should not have.

He was already beating himself up on the inside, truthfully he knew that if he was anything like his past self, he wouldn't have hesitated in the slightest with saving the unlucky students. And now here he was, forced to watch as the two girls in the group were being attacked by the now six walking monstrosities.

Although Naruto wouldn't admit it as he ran across the way, drawing a kunai. One of the girls had certainly gained his respect. She stood in a well refined martial arts stance, which stance to be exact? He couldn't tell. Perhaps it was Karate. He never particularly bothered with knowing which stance which martial art originally started in. Shinobi simply used "Taijutsu" which in truth was just a generic term form them to describe mixed martial arts. Shinobi never truly wanted others to know what they were actually capable of.

She was swift on her feet delivering well placed kicks and punches all the while effectively gaining distance. He had the underlying feeling that if the girl was alone, she actually would have been able to handle herself just fine.

However the platinum blonde haired martial arts girl was no doubt protecting a younger sister. The other girl had fallen to the ground in fear, clutching at her chest as faint tears began to roll down her face. Her breaths were shallow, and her eyes unfocused.

Naruto leapt into action against the attacking dead with quite precise stabs that went completely unnoticed. But by the time he arrived it was too late for the young fighter. The platinum blonde who had spent her entire last moments just now protecting the younger girl that could have been her twin if only slightly older. One of the dead had spun it's head after getting a vicious punch, and had take to biting the hand that had punched it.

Naruto grimaced at the recent memory of how many teenagers he had passed up on helping only to see them suffer this fate. He silently wished he had reached this desire to help sooner.

Naruto finished his last couple kills as the dead dropped to the ground once again. The blonde haired fighter had since fallen back onto her butt and wrapped an arm around the shell shocked girl beside her, while looking up to the shinobi.

"Thanks for coming to the rescue. I was almost afraid you wouldn't when I saw you watching us over there." she gestured with a nod of the head to where he was standing not even a minute ago.

Naruto grimaced as the truth set in that he could have in fact been at her side in less than a few seconds if he really need to, even without chakra. "Yeah, but I obviously wasn't fast enough." he said with a bitter taste in his mouth, slightly angry at his own personal failure. To his surprise however he was only greeted with a smile.

"It's the thought that counts. My father says that you can judge the character of a person by the way they treat those that can do nothing for them."

The thought of Pein reviving everyone he had killed in Konoha on his death bed instantly came to mind for Naruto. With a weak smile, Naruto simply nodded his head, "Smart man."

The light laughter the blonde girl gave despite the situation around him brought a smile to Naruto's face. In truth she almost reminded him of himself when he was younger. "A bit eccentric though." she added on at the end with a grin. She offered her free hand which wasn't bloody, "Kimeko Sinjah. This is my younger sister Ayane."

Naruto looked to the side to glance at the still shell shocked Ayane. He didn't have nearly as much respect for the girl as he held for Kimeko. He gave a slow nod of the head for recognition, but said nothing to acknowledge the girl beyond that. "Uzumaki Naruto." he replied calmly doing his best to hide his guilt.

"Nice eyes." she said before heaving forward with a nasty cough.

Naruto shook his head slightly at the laid back mannerisms of the dying girl before him, "Nice hair." he bit back in amusement.

"Wish I had my mom's." she gave a toothy grin, but her teeth were already getting coated in her own blood which in turn caused Naruto to frown.

They stared at each other for a few moments before Kimeko spoke, "Do me a favor Naruto. Look after my sister for me. She suffers from anxiety due to something she saw something happen to our father when she was younger. She just needs her meds from the nurse's office. I know you can help her, I haven't seen anyone move like you do in a fight except for that purple haired crazy Saeko." With a hacking cough Kimeko continued, "I'd do it myself, but I'm afraid I'm going to be pretty indisposed in a minute or so blondie."

Naruto's grin faded as this weight suddenly got put on his shoulders. He looked over towards Ayane whom was finally becoming a bit more responsive. It was at this moment that he truly wished that the two girls didn't look to be nearly twins. The guilt he was feeling beginning to rest on his shoulders was... awful. He squeezed his eyes shut before he carefully scooped the girl up into his arms. He dropped his kunai to the ground next to the older sister, who in turned gave a big grin to the shinobi before.

"If you want to..." he left the message hanging in the air, but the older sister gave a bark of a laugh not even a second later as she picked up the kunai knife.

"What? Go out like a coward? Ha!" she said as she pushed herself up onto shaky legs. "If I'm gonna die, I'ma die helping the people still alive." she answered in a confident tone.

Seeing Naruto not leaving as he continued to stare at the platinum blonde in a deal of respect, the act only caused the young woman to blush under his gaze. "Well get going before I bite you." she said, a joke in poor taste.

Naruto shook his head in a sigh and stood up onto the stone wall of walkway, ready to simply jump down to the next level.

"Find our little brother Ayane..." was the last fading sound he heard from Kimeko as he jumped off the side of the walk way, only feeling the slightest shifting of a nodding head in his arms.

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****Now that this chapter is done, time to lay some things out.

****Alright well this is chapter one. I didn't know how I would go about splitting up the chapters. I have been frankly writing this story for a bit... and I am probably about sixty thousand words into the story. Right now I am just deciding to post it and I'm figuring out how I want to go about splitting the chapters up.

Normally I am a person that usually posts longer chapters. However for this story I think I will actually be opting to shorter chapters this time around given how the story translates from the manga.

This story is going to be quite a bit more in depth and detailed than the actual series. A lot more ripples will form as well in this story in contrast to how Naruto's presence usually effects this universe. Some characters will be expanded on, some characters will survive things they normally wouldn't. There will be OCs. Frankly there will be a lot that frankly just isn't in your typical Highschool of the Dead cut and dry crossover plot line.

Another thing I felt when I started writing the story. The typical Naruto simply CANT, and I do mean that with all caps. He CANT fit into the Highschool of the Dead universe in his standard implementation. The reason for this is pretty simple. Naruto is pretty much a hardcore paragon, a hero of heroes. He will not only go above and beyond the call of duty for his friends, but he is even willing to do that for his enemies.

So the idea that Naruto would go into the story, and then not make 1000 shadow clones in order to save not just the core group, but everyone in Japan? Well that idea is silly. That is exactly what he would try and do. So before I was able to start the story with Naruto, I needed to craft a Naruto that was still his typical "Jinchuriki born and raised in Konoha" while at the same time obtaining a different mindset.

So the Naruto in this story without giving too many spoilers is inspired by another story a bit. "Potential Realized" a story where the Sandaime lives and promotes Naruto to the rank of Chunin, and Naruto begins to take his shin obi career seriously. I took this concept and gave it my own spin to make a Naruto that wouldn't utterly try and walk over and wipe out the entire zombie invasion. But at the same time he would be willing to protect those close to him as he ventures through this world.

NOW final note...

A lot of fan fiction writers don't realize this for zombie apocalypse stories like Highschool of the Dead or whatever. While we the viewers know the enemies that they are facing are "zombies" the actual characters do not. The actual characters are put into a universe that know nothing of Zombies, and as such that is why they don't know to go for the head when they are first encountered, or that a bite infects them. Etc etc etc.

So the vocabulary used during the first bit of the story to is there to depict that, using "Them, Those Things, Walking Dead, Monstrosities, Atrocities, etc etc etc" is used to capture the feel for the rest of the characters. Later on a name does get developed for the zombies, as to simply not cause confusion. (In Highschool of the Dead, they call the zombies "Them", which works in a manga because you can see the image panels. However in writing that simply won't work because everything is visualization.)


	2. Unnecessary Deeds

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead.

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As ear piercing scream ripped through several levels of the school from the lungs of a young pink haired genius.

"Hi...Hirano!" she said in a panic back peddling from the hostile figure that was able to sneak up on her.

"The magazine is empty!" he said quickly as he experimentally pulled the trigger to his makeshift gun a couple times while aiming at the creature.

"No... no... get away!" she said in a panic as she backed up into a broken trophy case. "Get away!" she yelled as her foe approached closer step by step. She reached behind her and grabbed the closest trophy she could find to hurl at the dead student. But it was then in her panic that she realized that she still had yet to let go of the kunai knife she had been given earlier. The moment Hirano had created his gun contraption she hadn't needed to worry about it.

She quickly took the knife in hand and reared back her arm. Then with the accuracy of a textbook genius she threw the blade... and naturally missed. The blade sailed right over the monster's head and embedded itself into a far wall across from her.

Tears swelled up in her eyes as what she felt was her last ditch effort had completely and utterly failed. "Don't come..." she muttered, "Don't come..." she clenched her eyes shut as the monster fell into striking distance and she screamed once again. "Don't come!"

A quick rush of air, and the pink haired girl opening her eyes revealed none other than Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto with a rather bored expression, and a girl in his arms had calmly come up behind the dead student and swept his leg quickly all the while keeping perfect balance with the girl in his arms. The dead student proceeded to take a spill as it fell backwards, only to come in full contact with the very same foot crushing his skull into the ground. The dead student surely returned to the grave after that, it was only through luck that the skull didn't outright crush under the shinobi's feet causing the surrounding students to outright lose their lunch.

Naruto gave a sigh as he gave a shake of his foot before he knelt down next to the pink haired girl and set Ayane down gently against the trophy case, being mindful of broken glass. He knew there were a few more of the dead he had to assist the chubby boy, supposedly named Hirano or something.

Although Naruto raised an eyebrow not a moment later as the repetitive sound of running footsteps approached closer and closer until in the hallway stood four people. Three students and a teacher or some sort. Naruto's eyebrow raised further as he spotted the two younger females of the group actually holding their choice of weapons in respectable stances. The purple haired female more so than the light haired girl. Although that may be more due to one fighting with a broom stick, and the other with a worn wooden sword.

However even though there were new arrivals, Naruto knew that he had a job he needed to do. And no one was moving into action quick enough. At least by his own battle hardened shinobi standards. Truthfully they probably hadn't been standing there for more than a couple seconds.

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose as he moved to stand up, drawing a kunai knife from his pocket. However this process only served to have the platinum blonde clutch onto the young man's fleeting arm tightly. "Don't go..." she mumbled, short breaths still affecting her. While her attack may have passed, it was quite obvious that she was still feeling the negative effects of it after the fact.

Naruto rolled his eyes briefly before flicking his free hand into palm. The action was frankly subtle. But the effect of an invisible force slamming into the closest dead student on the right, rocketing him into the far wall without notice. His skull immediately crushed upon impact. They weren't shinobi, and there were few shinobi that could survive that technique in the first place.

Naruto noticed that while surprise shown on the civilian's faces, they all knew there was no time to stand and gawk.

"I'll take the right!"

"Rei!"

"I'll get the left!"

All three of the young students yelled virtually simultaneously. Naruto had to admit that it was quite impressive to see in contrast to the amount of students that had died to this... outbreak... disease... plague... whatever it was.

Naruto could completely understand how civilians fell to the mindless drones before him getting slaughtered by the three students. They were after all once friends of other students in the school. Teachers that some had grown fond of. He was sure that there were even a few that had lost their lovers to this epidemic.

However a lot of the respect he could muster was utterly drowned out when he realized if something like this ever happened when he was in the academy, a single genin or academy student could probably clean out an entire school of this size. That is as long as the young shinobi was careful.

Naruto shook his head and forcefully peeled himself away from Ayane despite her weak protests. He stood up and walked to the far wall leaving the two girls on the floor in shock. He frowned as he grabbed the kunai that had been poorly thrown and stuck into a wall.

Naruto grabbed the ninja tool and turned before throwing it at the pink haired girl's feet, sticking it into the tile floor. "Don't throw this again, you don't have proper training. Just stab them in the head if they get close, preferably the eyes."

Naruto glanced over the new arrivals before letting his gaze fall on Ayane as he spoke out, "Does anyone know how I can find the school doctor or nurse... or whatever this place has?" Naruto asked in a bit of annoyance. He didn't mind looking after the platinum blonde as per past agreement. However he did wish that she could as least walk on her own two feet.

The purple haired female gave a long appraising look as she looked over the blonde shinobi before speaking, "I'm surprised you don't know the school doctor." she said with a bit of apprehension in her voice as she glanced toward the kunai knife that was now pierced into the ground in front of the pink haired student. "Dr. Marikawa is right here." she said gesturing to the busty blonde haired woman. "My name is Busujima Saeko from class 3-A."

That seemed to get introductions rolling for everyone else as the brown haired teen with the baseball bat finished locking the glass door. "Komuro Takashi from class 2-B." he said with a level head. The female that followed was a great deal more cheerful than him.

"Miss Busujima, I remember you won the national championship last year. I'm Miyamoto Rei, a member of the spear martial arts club." the young girl said with a charming smile and voice. Frankly Naruto found it a bit surprising she could even have it in her to hurt anyone from first glance. She seemed far too innocent as far as Naruto was concerned.

The last formal introduction was barely that as the young chubby boy that Naruto simply knew as 'Hirano' gave his briefly stuttered introduction, "I...I'm Hirano Kohta... from Class B"

Naruto didn't really want to seem rude and not give his own introduction, but he simply tuned them out and stopped caring. The only one of even remote interest to him out of the students was the young purple haired female. And that was just due to Kimeko's earlier comment.

_'I know you can help her, I haven't seen anyone move like you do in a fight except for that purple haired crazy Saeko'_

Naruto was more interested in as to why he seemingly always got saddled with big breasted blonde doctors. "Uzumaki Naruto." he said simply as he moved past the few gathered students to the female doctor in the corner, ignoring the now dubbed Takagi Saya's outburst.

"Dr. Marikawa?" Naruto questioned as he stood before the blonde doctor. He could already tell that the woman was rather aloof as she simply watch from the sidelines, a soft expression adopting her features as she watched Saya break down into Saeko's arms. An expression mirrored by many in the room. At least those that actually cared. He knew the situation the students were in was stressful, but in contrast to having to fight The Salamander Hanzo without actually breathing the majority of the fight? This situation could be considered a vacation as far as he was concerned.

"Hmm?" she sounded off turning her head to the blonde at being addressed, "Yes what is it?"

Naruto resisted the urge to sigh. It appeared the woman's attention was barely even being held by the scene playing out before her. "Do you happen to have any medication for anxiety attacks?" Naruto asked in a professional tone he would use as an ANBU when needing to question civilians. "She had one not long ago and is still not effectively recovered from it."

"Oh! Sinjah-san!" The woman said in surprise looking over to Ayane. She then started to rummage through her bag, making random sounds as she searched. "Hmmm. Erm... Ah!" she finished much to Naruto's amusement by pulling out a small bottle of pills. Although from the sound they made, he could tell it didn't sound very full.

It was at that time when the doctor made her way over to Ayane that Naruto finally took a deep breath and looked down to his effective prison on his wrist. The smallest of hairline fractures began so slowly mend themselves together from the previous minor use of chakra he had partaken in moments before. Naruto didn't even bother to hide the scowl that appeared on his face at the ridiculous idea of potentially sentient metal.

"My pills..." was the faint whisper Naruto heard from Ayane as the dutiful blonde doctor practically bounced her way over to the injured student.

While Saeko held onto the now crumbled Saya in her arms, she turned her interest to the blonde. "Uzumaki-san." Saeko spoke gathering full attention of everyone in the remove except for Shizuka whom was busy getting Ayane to take her pill in her state without water. "I don't believe you stated your classroom, nor school year. You also do not wear the school uniform." Saeko merely observed, but his observations quickly allowed for an unasked question to form amongst the group. "And finally you carry weapons that... well I never thought I would actually ever see in person." the frown that marred her face seemed to trouble everyone around her as they now stared at the blonde enigma.

Naruto pursed his lips weighing the worth of even giving a straight answer to them. He had climbed the shinobi ladder, and quite quickly by most normal standards, with the few exceptions of genius' like Uchiha Itachi or Hatake Kakashi. One of the things you learn quickly on the 'Way to the Top' as he liked to reference it was that information was everything in his line of work. From information on landscape to information on the opponents he faced in battle. You could never know too much in his line of work.

"My name you already know, I'm not from around here and I don't go to this school." He said in a cool and collected voice. Although there were brief pauses as he thought through which information he thought was even worth giving in his situation. "I was merely passing through. As for my weapons, I'm surprised you know about them." Naruto finished, as he flashed a kunai, all the while avoiding answering the question asked about them.

Saya had since pushed herself out of Saeko's grasp, and gave a scoff. "Only an idiot would come to a place like this given the situation."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees as the heat was consumed by tension. That was probably not the best thing to say to a person whom seemingly carried around weapons of rare origin on a whim. Not to mention the said soldiers complete and utter lack of tolerance with the word 'Idiot' being thrown around. He had been called that far too much in his childhood to even begin to tolerate being called an idiot at the age and skill he had achieved now.

Although he retained his cool in the situation and merely replied, "Just as only an idiot would attempt to throw a close quarters weapon they have no training in?" his comment was had turned into a biting one by the end of it, his annoyance clear as day on his features.

The pink haired female visibly flinched at her own insult being used against her. It cut a great deal deeper after she had just spout off about being a genius only to see how worse for wear she truly looked.

There was a few brief moments of silence before Takashi spoke, "Hey..." he said slowly with a somber expression still on his face after Saya's initial meltdown, "If we are all going to just decide to rest right now, there is a room just over there that we can barricade us in. It would probably be safer since we wont have to deal with those _things_."

The now loosely formed group seemed to consent to this.

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Naruto rest his head on his hand as he propped his elbow up on the table. He was silently looking over the younger Sinjah sister with a bored expression. The girl had regained most of her ability having taken the pills. All it took was a water bottle, and a bit of hand fanning as she seemingly calmed down. However Naruto knew that as the girl calmed down, the weight of what had happened with her sister would only serve to crash down on her.

She had remained silent the entire time the room had broken out into various discussions about there situation. In fact the only time Naruto realized that she was not in fact simply mute was when she gave him a polite 'Thank you for saving me'. Yet beyond that, all Naruto could do was observe.

And to say he was glad he took the time to observe would be an understatement. It didn't take very long for Naruto to realize at all that he was in a world seemingly without the use of chakra. That much he could have figured out if he was still twelve years old, and a freshly turned genin. Given his experience over the years and add that to his rippled eyes he gained from his fallen foe. Finding out he was in a chakraless society was simple. In the words of his former ANBU captain whom could "smell danger" well he essentially felt that was about this different world or whatever he was in that was chakraless.

So that was why the girl sitting beside him in his opinion was a complete and utter anomaly. Naruto fought the urge to correct himself in his head as he subconsciously admitted he knew that the potential for chakra still existed. Where he came from the idea of chakra was that it innately flowed through every living being. Shinobi were simply living beings that had taken to learning how to grow and master the use of their chakra. As such in civilians chakra was pretty much non existent. So perhaps it wasn't that the world he was in was chakraless, it was simply that shinobi were absent from it.

Although this did not explain the chunin level chakra reserves he felt coming from the girl that sad beside him, cradling her water bottle in her hands while lost in thought. She didn't appear to have even the slightest bit of knowledge of her chakra. Otherwise he was sure she would be attempting to channel it to calm her nerves. It was one of the many reasons shinobi simply didn't suffer from anxiety attacks.

Naruto mulled over a textbook definition the blue haired former Akatsuki had given him while tending to the people of her village medically.

_"Naruto, anxiety attacks are often spontaneous. They are spawned by the body essentially being pumped full of adrenaline as if they were in serious danger. However often times during an anxiety attack, there is no actual danger being present. So you simply have your body go into overdrive for no actual logical reason, and you start to panic."_

Naruto grinned slightly at how knowledgable Konan was about... well virtually anything. After having a bit of a history lesson from her one day, he learned that a boy named Yahiko was the soul and spirit of her trio of friends. He later went on to be the figurehead for the Akatsuki. Meanwhile Nagato always was the muscle behind the group, perhaps the slightly shy and lacking confidence kind growing up, but the muscle none the less. Then there was Konan, the young girl that grew up holding everything together with vast knowledge and details.

It was almost funny how often that role was delegated to the female of a group in shinobi history.

Naruto continued to stare at the young female whom was lost in her own world as he continued to recall on his past conversation.

_"But Konan... if that's the case, then why don't shinobi have panic attacks more often? Even in the and out of the field, you never hear about them?"_

_Konan pursed her lips before she had taken to gently moving her lip piercing as she rolled her tongue. Under other circumstances, the fifteen year old Uzumaki was sure he would have found it the slightest bit erotic if not for the simple fact that piercings in general were so exotic and rare in the shinobi profession._

_Konan ran her tongue over her lips one last time, it was likely just a routine she simply did when she was thinking. She was apparently completely oblivious as to how utterly distracting it was. But then again, considering she was likely always at Nagato's side, and he was essentially her brother. Naruto highly doubted any of the Ame shinobi were even willing to think about touching the woman with a ten foot pole._

_"Well, shinobi are soldiers and live their lives in combat, so the idea of anxiety is frankly fairly foriegn since combat in our profession is just to be expected. But in addition to that, bits and pieces of medical research has shown chakra to be a bit of a passive tranquilizer almost for the body to keep the nerves steady."_

_"You see Naruto, people, and this is my shinobi included seem to often boast about receiving a rush of adrenaline in combat. They often talk about how everything slows down, and how in those few moments their opponent didn't have a chance. Well simply put, they're wrong. Everything doesn't slow down, it's really the opposite. Everything in fact speeds up, and your body starts going into overdrive. And if you aren't careful your body speeding up and you not being prepared for it can consume you in the middle of combat. But again... shinobi don't really have these problems." Konan paused briefly as she was thinking over her words in the discussion with the one Nagato had passed his legacy onto._

_"As I said before chakra acts almost like a passive tranquilizer. It will still 'speed you up' you could say if you got a huge rush of adrenaline. But it would simply not allow for the huge downsides of someone not being able to keep up with it. This may simply be due to, and this is my personal opinion Naruto... that as shinobi grow stronger and more capable, the effects adrenaline have on them are simply dulled by the training, experience, and skill the receive."_

To say the young girl sitting next to him with virtually untapped chunin level chakra pools suffering from anxiety attacks was an anomaly. That would be an understatement. He had no idea how he should approach the situation. The limited amount of medical knowledge he learned was simply how to mend wounds for comrades in the field. One of his many different field captains at the time felt it should be mandatory for a 'walking chakra battery' like himself to at least be 'a walking medical chakra battery'.

"Uzumaki-san, it looks like everyone is out of breath, but why aren't you helping Komuro-san and Hirano-san with the barricade?" the purple haired sword mistress asked while rolling her shoulders.

Naruto rolled his eyes at that, he thought he had already explained why he felt that was a dumb idea. _'Perhaps I only thought it over in my head...'_ he thought in his own amusement. He had taken to doing that quite a bit as he grew higher in the ranks of the joint shinobi armed forces.

"Is there a reason I should help them?" he asked, a raised eyebrow cocked towards the senior student. "Is there a reason you're not helping them for that matter?" Naruto added on as an afterthought realizing he was being judged.

Saeko looked taken aback for a moment as she stared directly into Naruto's eyes and proceeded to take in his body language. His eyes were calm, and collected if not the slightest bit distant. Yet more importantly to be noted she felt was his body language. There was no visible tension at all in his relaxed posture as he rested with a rather bored expression. It was as if the things happening around them didn't bother the blonde mystery in the slightest. To say those details made the blonde's rippled gaze all the more potent would be an understatement.

Saeko looked away for a moment from the pale gaze waiting an uncomfortable few seconds to continue speaking. The other students in the room had actually taken time to stop their activities to listen in. Particularly the two boys stacking up boxes and flipping stables in front of the doorway. They looked quite interested in the explanation.

"I figured you seem to be a good... honorable man by the way you have taken care of Sinjah-san sitting next to you." she said after a few moments keeping her formal tone despite her recent lack of comfort under his gaze. She knew there was more to why his gaze was so unsettling, but the fact that she couldn't place why only left the unknown in it's place. "I only expected a _man_ such as you to help them with the barricade to protect us from _them_." putting almost as much emphasis on the world man as she did when referencing the dead.

Naruto resisted well his urge to outright snort at the thought of honorable. He was honorable when he was twelve. That sense of honor died when he joined ANBU. He only gained some decent amount of it back through his battles with Pein and Hanzo of the Salamander. Both of them warriors with to different extreme ends of the spectrum when it came to honorable actions.

Naruto settled for rolling his eyes, "I'm not helping simply because it is a stupid idea." he said as he leaned back and relaxed in his chair. "And Saeko-san, if you want to help them, then help them. Being a man has nothing to do with it." Naruto said as he ran a hand through his hair as he thought back to all of the men and women he had under his leadership at various points in time.

He glanced over to the purple haired female before opting to glance at her wooden sword. "Busujima Saeko, you seem to have taken up the way of the sword. Samurai roots it would seem judging from the shape. Would I be correct?" Naruto observed, doing his best to bleed through any small amount of charisma he was sure he didn't have despite a few close shinobi's insistence otherwise.

Saeko's small nod of acknowledgment was all Naruto felt he needed to continue. "The way of the Samurai is often regarded as a man's profession." he said with a calm in his voice despite the slightest narrowing of the swordswoman's eyes. "Do you wish to be treated differently because you are a woman in the profession? After all most women that came from Samurai roots were often to stay at home and be housewives..." Naruto finished recalling small facts about the way Iron Country was run. He could only hope that whatever world he was in had at least some sort of similar background. However if he looked like a fool spouting about something he had no idea about... well it wouldn't be the first time.

The further narrowing of Saeko's eyes told Naruto he had seemingly struck a nerve. "Do you judge me because I am a woman who has taken up the sword?" she asked, a cold look appearing in her eyes. Naruto noticed that Rei seemed to be equally tense at the implication, her makeshift spear leaning beside her.

Naruto shook his head with a weak smile, but he quickly masked it with his regular expression, "No. I don't." he said as if he wasn't paying much attention to her, before he abruptly turned to the now relatively surprised girl. "Do you wish for me to do so?" he asked the pointed question.

Naruto had to admit that he was rather amused at the girl's casually shifting expressions, "No... I do not." she said quietly not realizing where this is going still. Partially due to values instilled in her from her upbringing no doubt.

Naruto smiled lightly at the answer, feeling as if he was given the shinobi vs kunoichi pep talk to a rather sexist member of one of his team once again. "Good. Because I don't plan to. However if one wishes to be treated equally, one must accept equal responsibility. I am not helping helping those two build a blockade, because the blockade is just potentially more detrimental than good. Not because some silly irrelevant discrepancies between men and women." Naruto finished, leaving a deal of room for thought to wash over the entire room.

"Naruto-san, why do you think the blockade will be detrimental?" Takashi asked with a jab of his thumb to where they had positioned tables and boxes in front of the door.

Naruto suppressed the urge to talk down to the young student as if he was a subordinate that needed disciplinary action for his stupidity, and simply realized that he was a civilian boy whom was likely quite a bit scared.

"I don't go to this school." Naruto began quietly. "But with the exception of the few old doors I saw on the second level of the school that slide open? All of the doors at this school open outwards. These doors are no exception. The amount of force and pressure needed to even knock down the door after it has even been locked would be far more pressure than would simply be practical. Not to mention if we were really that worried, you could have just taken Miyamoto-san's spear, and barred the doors."

Naruto paused as he watched the recognition flash over the faces of those in the room. "Now as for the outright downsides to the barricade? You are wasting your time you could be resting shifting around boxes and furniture. The hallways we each took were already well traveled and should have been cleared for us to get her safely. I hope that for you all it has been obvious that these blind creatures are only alerted to a presence by sound. Moving around a bunch of furniture was entirely unnecessary."

Naruto sighed, "And finally on the off chance miracle that these dead school children break down this door? Without a barricade, they will simply file into the room one by one, at which point you can just funnel them into being killed. With a barricade? They pile up on the door and the sound of the shifting furniture they are making themselves proceeds to alert more. This process continues until a complete flood of them enters the room at once. And considering this is your only exit besides the second story window? No... I think i'll pass on helping you erect that death trap." Naruto finished, fighting the urge to wince at the last comment he made. That one was probably unnecessary.

The shifting eyes that went across the room and then to the barricade were more than enough to speak volumes for what everyone was thinking.

"I wouldn't worry about it now that it is in place. Like I said the sheer chances of them even getting past the doors alone is slim to none." Naruto decided to add if only to calm the nerves.

Saya spoke up, "You seem to know an awful lot about the walking dead Uzumaki..." she stated as she rested her hands on her hips, having not forgotten of the previous battle of words earlier.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "I was carrying a girl around through corpse infested halls. I could only kick them. You have to pay attention when it comes down to that." he lied through his teeth. The truth was he noticed that they were blind the moment he started walking the halls. It was only when that awful announcement was given, and that students started screaming and rushing out onto the halls that Naruto could no longer simply walk past the ones he didn't feel like dealing with.

"I know, I remember when you saved Takagi-san! You took it out with just you feet while carrying Sinjah-san! That was so cool! Where did you learn that!" Kohta exclaimed with a great deal of enthusiasm.

Naruto didn't blush, but he couldn't help the amused grin that crept up onto his face as Kohta went on to proclaim his 'sweep and stomp' akin to some sort of comic book hero. Him? A comic book hero? Yeah right.

However the others that weren't privy to this detail recalled back on the fight now that the stress of battle had lifted during their relaxation period. However while what was being proclaimed would indeed be quite the display of skill. The comment bringing them back to the fight all brought the back to a more pressing matter.

"Does anyone know what made one of those _things_ fly backwards when he just arrived. It was as if someone had hit it really hard in the chest but..." Rei began but her question fell dead as there was no real way to describe what was seen. It simply... it simply wasn't possible. An invisible force knocking things away? Those were reserved for movies about warriors in different galaxies, not the real world.

But then again... the dead coming back to life. Perhaps anything was indeed possible.

Naruto shut his mouth at that an focused all of his attention back on to the silent girl beside him, and he simply put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Naruto could only hope that when he could get the girl to a safer environment that she would open up a bit to him. He really doubted that Kimeko's last plea to him asking to help save her sister was simply on a physical level.

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Alright this wraps up a second chapter to this story. I had a few people asking about the pairing in the story, or if the story will even have a pairing. I can confirm that the story will have pairings/relationships for the characters that are going to grow and progress over the course of the story. I won't say that I necessarily know how it will pan out from this point, as to not spoil it, and simply because I don't have every detail worked out for the story. That said, I already have a good idea.

However a lot of people were asking about it. Now I sent some replies to most people that directly asked about the story pairings and gave them an explanation. And frankly as pairings for the story go, I don't care that much. I am going to pair Naruto with a character that fits him as the story unfolds.

BUT!

If you have a character you want to see in the pairing? Just say so. However reviews that are like "Naruto/xxxxx" with no explanation? Most will often be ignored. If you can provide a reason as to why X character would be good with Naruto? I may end up taking that into consideration. I'm not some writer that is going to make a poll and say "Herp'dy derp tell me what pairing you want and I'll awkwardly work them in even though their characters don't mesh."

First and foremost, I intend for this to be a good story because the Highschool of the Dead/Naruto crossover category deserves a better quality of those stories.

Now all of that being said, I hope you enjoy the chapter. Please review and tell me what you think of it so far. I know it is a bit different than standard given the changes to Naruto's character as well as his situation in this. So it is a bit of trial and error here. Any input is appreciated.


	3. Ones Who Follow Are Forever At Your Back

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead.

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Naruto sighed, his bored expression evident to everyone around. They had been sitting on the stairs for five minutes easily, with a new smaller group of students now accompanying them.

Truthfully, Naruto felt they were nothing special. They didn't have any visible evidence of formal training like Rei or Saeko had. They didn't have any mechanical skills like Kohta or the doctor Shizuka. Even Saya had some element of genius to her. Although he personally would go as far as to call it genius to be exact, more so that she just knew a lot. He remembered quite clearly his genin days. Sakura was by no means a genius. She just knew a lot of stuff.

Takashi in Naruto's opinion was the odd man out in the group. He too didn't appear to be anything special. He was just an average and normal teenager thrown into circumstances that were anything but normal. Although Naruto could admit one thing. The fire he saw in the boy's eyes. If he had anything, the boy had a lot of guts, and a lot of heart.

So when Naruto rested his eyes on the new arrivals, he subtly wished that they had arrived a few moments later, when they would have been effectively turned. Not one of them even had a unique hair color that made them stand out. And given the group he had been with for the past thirty to forty minutes? That was pretty sad.

"Are we seriously going to sit here and drawl over how we are going to make our way down the stairs, and get past what? Eight of these things?" Naruto questioned, his irritation slowly growing. He was being polite sticking around with the group. The doctor had assisted him with Ayane, and even though that was her job. Shit had obviously hit the fan here, and likely a lot of obligations people formerly held went along with it.

And the fact that the girl was up and moving, albeit not talking was still an improvement from her former state.

Still... the longer they waited, only more of these living dead would appear. That wasn't something he was particularly fond of dealing with since he would be walking out of this place since he didn't have the slightest idea how to operate the technology that the group kept talking about. Whatever this 'Bus' or 'Car' thing were. They sounded like something similar to the trains located in Snow Country, but he would wait to pass judgment.

"Uzumaki-san, you and Takagi-san both seem to have they theory that these _things_ react only to sound. Someone needs to go and confirm that theory." Saeko said in a quiet voice as she looked over the side of the railing to the hallway below filled with dead.

Naruto resisted the urge to get a bit defensive at the fact that he was being questioned. Particularly when it was _two_ people with the exact same theory. Although he knew the older student was simply doing her best to take charge as the de facto leader of the group. She didn't want anyone to get hurt.

Although that wasn't a cure to Naruto's boredom and frustration with waiting. Naruto saw that the brown haired teen with heart was already ready to speak up and go down there to deal with the annoying little problem. Internally Naruto kept telling himself, _'Nope! Nope! Nope! Sit the fuck down. I'll handle this.'_ he thought to himself as he stood up and pushed Rei's spear out of the way while he made his way down the stairs.

He appreciated bravery Takashi was about to show, but the longer he stayed here, the darker it would get outside, and the harder things would become for him and his _ward_.

"I'll do it." he muttered as he walked past quickly. "Saeko, watch Ayane-san for me." he said slowly to get the point across as he stared at the from half way down the stairs.

"Uzumaki-san, please, I should go first." Saeko said abruptly turning to the blonde, having stopped looking over the railing. It was evident that she knew someone had to go down the stairs to check, but she was just checking the surroundings because she assumed it would be her. Now that it was not...

"I seriously do not have time for this." Naruto said seriously, his commanding shinobi tone bleeding over into the one he had used to speak to civilians and victims of the war. "I understand that you are all scared, but the longer we sit here, the darker it gets. The sun is already setting. And unless you all have a plan to see these things in the dark, we must go now." he didn't even wait for a retort that was potentially for his safety, or the fact that he was being rude, or whatever else he was prepared for. He frankly just didn't care. If he was going to keep his word, he needed to get the people here to this... bus or whatever it was called.

Naruto stepped down the stairs swiftly pulling out an elongated kunai often utilized by Mist shinobi. On missions around their country, they could tie a stick to the kunai and have a far more slick spear head for fishing than what could be achieved with regular kunai. He imagined there was more to it when he won it off the mist ninja under his wing in a game of cards. But he didn't care that much beyond that, often favoring a ninja-to over all else if he was forced to use a weapon.

Naruto once he was down at the bottom of the steps, special kunai in hand wait a couple seconds, his arms spread wide as if beckoning the _things_ to attack him. However beckoning a blind person with a wave of the hand never worked before.

Naruto turned around with a deadpan look to the people on stairs, all of whom had moved down considerable to see the event unfold.

Naruto heard the slightest bit of shuffling behind him, and the tense panic that rose in the faces of those on the stairs only further served to make him roll his eyes. They were blind, and they couldn't feel anything. That meant if he didn't say a peep, they could repeatedly walk into him, and think of him as nothing but a wall under the sun's rays.

As if to prove his point, he turned to the creature slowly walking towards him. And while he wasn't looking at the people behind him, he knew what he was about to do would make them nearly yell out.

He gently placed his hand on the chest of the mindless student, and pushed it backwards. The dead student stumbled back a bit, and attempted to retaliate. But Naruto only had to take a step to the side to avoid the stumbling creature as it walked into the wall near the stairs.

Naruto sighed heavily and walked halfway back up the stairs to the now rather wide eyed group. Naruto fought the urge to snap at them and ask what the fuck they were staring at. But Naruto knew that they were look at him as if he was simply a civilian. And as such they were looking at him as if asking the silent question of _"How does he walk around with balls that big?"_

Naruto held his hands up to the side and and shrugged his shoulders, silently saying. '_I think I proved my point.'_

He then turned to Ayane, and gestured with a finger, "Alright come on, lets get you out of here." he whispered quietly. However while mute, she still was perfectly capable of realizing what he just did.

She got up from her sitting position next to the doctor on the stairs, and for a moment everything appeared to be normal. That was until she got close to Naruto and took a deep breath before hitting him in the stomach.

The punch truthfully had no effect as the girl quickly snatch back her hand and waved it in the air a bit as if she had just hit a brick wall. She then looked at Naruto with narrowed eyes that quickly became softened and dejected.

The silence made it hard to have proper conversation, but the hushed whisper and some of the first words the girl spoke around the group were simply but telling, "Please don't do that again..." she said quietly her face casting into a frown.

Naruto was personally just surprised from the sudden boldness from the former mute. But he supposed that while she may have her own issues, the apple probably didn't fall too far from the tree in regards to her and her sister's personalities.

The group probably assumed that the girl was simply asking Naruto to by all of their standards, not be an idiot once again. But Naruto knew the unspoken meaning of the statement was she simply didn't want to lose anyone else. He knew the look she was giving him far to well for it to be anything but that.

Naruto nodded softly to the girl to ease her stress. He didn't know how long he could personally keep that unspoken promise. His idea of a risk was incredibly different than their idea of a risk. He didn't even know if it was possible for him to turn into one of these things. Not to say he was willing to try it. He still felt as if he was ever touched by one of these pathetic creatures, he should just turn in his shinobi license since his reflexes officially had degraded to being worse than a fresh genin's at that point.

He turned to look up the stairs before motioning to the only other person he could actually justify needing, "Shizuka-san, please follow me, I will clear the way." he spoke in a soft calming voice.

Although it did serve to create a deal of tension within the now larger group. To them it probably seemed that Naruto was playing favorites.

Naruto held back an laugh to not alert the downstairs residents. Hell, he was playing favorites.

Despite the bit of tension that developed from him beckoning Shizuka to follow him, it appeared that everyone else took that as the queue to suit up and prepare to move out.

Naruto grabbed onto Ayane's hand as he held her close to him while he prepared to walk. But before he even made two steps, Ayane had made one. Naruto had to take a few seconds to stop his twitching eyebrow. The otherwise silent girl had about the subtly of an oncoming train given how she moved in those heels she worse.

Naruto turned to her and rubbed the bridge of his nose before point to the girl's shoes. He then raised his finger in the common motions as if to say "One second, wait here." With a single finger before a full flat palm.

He may have been cocky earlier, but he didn't want to risk talking out loud standing only a couple steps from the walking dead with Ayane in toe.

The group seemed to catch this, and some even smiled at the delicate care the blonde seemed to take for the platinum blonde's safety.

Ayane seemingly understood, and took that time to move back up a few steps on her toes, using the railing for balance. She then proceeded to sit down on the edge of the first set of stairs as she took off her heels.

Naruto on the other hand hadn't opted to wait. He merely decided to take the safer route, the route he should have taken ten minutes ago. Killing the fucking things.

Naruto moved up, knife in hand, tired of the purple swordswoman's ideas of avoiding conflict. The first corpse he saw got to greet the nice clean mist shinobi steel directly to it's eye socket. There was virtually no sound heard as the knife cut through the eye like butter. Naruto proceeded to catch the crumbling dead student before softly resting it on the floor, not letting it make a sound.

To say some of the onlookers were slightly disturbed by the efficiency of the blonde would be a slight understatement. Saeko was efficient. She moved seamlessly from abomination to abomination cutting them down as if it took no effort at all, as if she had perfected an art form.

However the level of perfection the blonde before them was showing was somewhere between disturbing and disgusting. He had taken perhaps a minute tops to completely and utterly dismember and entire group of twelve zombies in complete and utter silence, all the while moving quick and seamlessly.

The very last creature he killed, he grabbed by the back of the head and roughly slid him down the hallway, his head sliding into the lockers. Securing their safety as the few remaining _things_ proceeded to march to the locker and repeatedly bump against it as it if was their dinner inside.

"Alright lets go, no one make a sound." he said quietly as he gestured for everyone to make it down the stairs. However he knew. He just knew that somehow some way... one of these civilians would find a way to fuck up the simplest of orders.

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An old wise man would have said 'The urge to curse is strong within this one.' Naruto thought dryly.

A strong urge to curse simply didn't cut it. How damn hard was it to walk down a flight of stair silently. Sure he could have expected perhaps some honest slight slip ups. Such as civilians just not knowing how to move silently. Ayane's freight train footsteps earlier were evidence of that. It only made Naruto the slightest bit happy to notice she had seemingly took his silent request to heart as she had run across this 'parking lot' in her bare feet alongside the others.

Naruto was sure that other students were probably a good deal envious as she made her way across the lot, no weapon in hand, yet safer than everyone else. The sheer thought that Naruto would let any of the monsters come within ten feet of her was almost ridiculous after the promise he made. Particularly in a chaotic environment like this.

He simply couldn't save everyone. Everyone ran on to the lot yelling and screaming, and making all other sorts of unholy racket with their choice of weapons. The only one Naruto didn't have the urge to strangle was the chubby Hirano kid. The kid had taken to simply whispering to himself as he moved around in a slow but nearly silent jog. His weapon in hand would take care of the creatures with long range dull thuds in a single shot. A great big difference in contrast to someone like Takashi who had taken up some unique kind of golden metal pipe, and proceeded to swing it around him like some sort of unintelligent bandit.

They had quickly filed on to the bus with as far as Naruto was concerned, realistic losses. His earlier assessment of the other students that had picked up being nothing special would have been right. In fact they were the reason this whole problem started. Then not to mention as far as Naruto was concerned the ridiculous display that he had never and would never be able to fathom. The idea of meaningless sacrifice. One of the young girls of their group, completely in the clear had opted to simply go back and die with her boyfriend, even after his dying words for her to run.

Naruto sat in the large contraption called a _bus_. He had sat Ayane down near one of the seats close to the front. As far as he was concerned, this thing was just one big death trap that they filed into. But he once again told himself he would wait to pass judgment until the thing was fully moving.

It was then as he gazed out the window and the group was ready to go that he once again got that sinking feeling in his gut, the feeling he had gotten as he stared down Kimeko and her group earlier that day.

A group of people were yelling for rescue as they ran across the barely cleared parking lot. Naruto would be lying to himself if at first glance he had the strong urge to let them die. An opinion he seemed to share with the brown haired spear wielder. Although he silently knew why he would let them die, and why she would were completely different reasons. He simply couldn't stand the fact that there were eight of them running, and not a single one of them was carrying a weapon. At least the idiots from earlier were smart enough to do that, however ill equipped mentally Naruto felt they were.

However the more he watched, his shinobi practice kicking in. Truthfully it was a practiced and instinctual surge of adrenaline most shinobi got when they were prepared to move. The foot steps of those out there running had simply slowed down as Naruto's quicker combat drilled mind sped up, side effects of the Kyuubi's presence.

It was in that moment as he stared at the leader just making foot fall after foot fall did his mistake with Kimeko become all the more apparent. It was not his lack of desire to help that got her killed. He had wanted to help. It was his questionable lack of action as he mulled over the value of helping that got her killed.

Naruto grimaced as he looked towards Ayane, the girl he had been saddled with sitting down with a worried gaze pointed to the running students.

_'Not again...'_ Naruto thought as he quickly stood and made it to the exit of the bus, brushing past the brown haired bat wielder before many could react.

"Uzumaki-san!" The purple haired female protector of the group cried out as he stepped off the bus.

"Watch the girl for me." he responded dryly as he walked at a brisk pace to the oncoming group lead by a teacher with golden eyes.

"Naruto-san! We don't have to save him!" Rei had yelled out as she grabbed onto Naruto's arm, having followed him off the bus. She had since given up on trying to stop Takashi from saving this Shido, and his group. She had moved on to stopping the ballsy blonde haired, secret shinobi. "You will regret this!" she said quickly as she yanked Naruto closer to her by the arm.

Naruto grit his teeth, and turned briskly, stabbing a monster lunging at Rei's exposed and unmoving back. "So will you if you don't get back on the bus, now go! Get the hell out of here!" he said in a commanding voice to the now startled Rei.

Rei looked down to the ground where one of the creatures laid dead at her feet and paled slightly. She hated Shido. She hated him more than anyone else at this school could even begin to comprehend. But as the blonde before her played the most unlikely hero in her case, all she could do is remain silent and backtrack back onto the bus. The fact that the blonde had told her to do so as if it was an unquestionable order, made it a lot harder to dispute as well.

Naruto now broke into a light jog to meet up with the oncoming students. The leader of their group seemed to have quite a deal of speed to him if he was able to post up and usher them along with his hand before anyone else reached him.

It was then within these next few moments as he caught up to the teacher that his blood had run cold at the sight before him.

One of the students was running as fast as he could with a bag over his shoulder, that looked like it weighed quite a bit as well by the standard of a young civilian. In his hand he was clutching a large piece of paper. It probably would have been better off folded, but he imagined the weaponless squad simply didn't have the time.

Naruto resisted the urge to cringe at the boy's bad luck as he took a vicious fall, crying out how he sprained his ankle. Even his bag had swung around and landed on top of him. Although Naruto knew the kid would still be fine, the closest monsters were still at least fifteen feet away. More than enough time to be assisted on his feet, and get some help to be carried back.

And then it happened. His trained shinobi senses picking up every word.

"Oh, I see." The man said as he looked down upon the fallen student clutching at his pants leg. He then let a smile come to his face as he lifted his foot, "Well I guess that's it for you then." he said in a far too cheerful voice.

The image of the man's foot impacting on the top of the boy's head would be forever seared into Naruto's mind.

"The world we've known is over. The powerless don't deserve to survive." the man said quietly as he looked down at his former comrade. It was evident though that he had thought he was alone. Because the moment he turned around, the shocked expression that appeared on his face as the blonde came now rushing through, and shoving him to the side. It was another thing Naruto would never forget.

Naruto grit his teeth as a life lesson he learned played through his head.

_You can judge the character of a person by the way he treats those that can do nothing for him._

Shido's shock did not last long though, he needed to get onto that bus. And he wasn't going to stick around with the suicidal blonde to do it. It was then that he had opted to turn tail and run from his disgusting act of treachery.

The blonde shinobi leader however did not. _'Three seconds.'_ he said softly in his mind as he knelt down with the students despite the oncoming monsters.

It was in the first second that he allowed himself to take in the appearance of the boy. Broken, crying, and betrayed as he knelt there on the ground sure of his oncoming death. Clutched in his hand upon closer inspection was a map, now quite worn out from the fall he took. His glasses seemed to have cracked as his face impacted the concrete. But it was evident by the minimal damage that he didn't impact it too hard. Not enough to cause any sort of concussion. The the slight few cuts from loose gravel had appeared on his forehead.

_'Two seconds' _Naruto told himself once again. Naruto grit his teeth and hefted the boy up along his shoulders.

_'One second'_ Naruto could literally smell the breath rolling off the dead students at the close of a distance. He may have been in trouble if he continued to do his best to hide the fact that he was a shinobi. But... he was a damn shinobi. And the most recent treachery didn't even serve to brighten his mood.

_"Shinra Tensei." _He muttered quietly. Only the boy on his shoulders would have effectively heard it. It was then that the six creatures that had come to surround the two were viciously blown back. This wasn't the '_please move from the doorway' _Shinra Tensei as he liked to call it, such as the one he used earlier against the abomination in the school. This was a full fledged, bone crushing, organ melting forceful push that was used for combat.

The creatures rocketed off in all directions, the amount of force shown to all of the onlookers as over in the bus. One of the monsters had propelled right into the school. His body slamming hard against the contructed walls, impacting with enough force to make an actual crater in it. A feeling he knew far too well from his battle with Pein. Another creature blew off in another direction, rocketing at the fence before spring boarding face first harshing into the cement.

Naruto absently wished that he had the opportunity to see one of them fly off at such a force that upon reaching the fence, they simply slid through it like a cheese grater made of Samehada teeth.

Although despite all of the onlookers, there was only a single cold gaze from Naruto reserved for the treacherous teacher.

He was brought out of his gaze, and let it soften a bit as he heard the quiet weeping on his shoulders.

"Thank you..." the boy muttered between the sounds of nearly choking on his own fear.

Naruto clenched his fists a bit as he came to realize what type of world he had been dropped in. A world where all obligations and senses of duty in life had gone out the window. When honor and loyalty to one's comrades had become a foreign concept. As Saya had said during their brief break. A world without order.

Naruto simply nodded his head in response as he came to the realization of what he was going to do. '_They need a leader!'_ he told himself with conviction as he thought back to the shinobi in his home under his command before gazing as the bus as he began his march.

He shrugged the boy on his shoulders a bit higher before officially responding to the boy's statement. A reality and promise he had come to terms with just now, for himself.

"No man gets left behind." he said in a cool tone as he made his way to the bus.

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_"We need a leader!" Tsuchikage said with conviction as he sat in his chair that was slightly higher than everyone else's._

_"I must agree." Sarutobi Hiruzen said in a calm but aged voice that demanded respect. His cool and collected way of speaking only served to remind those in the room that they were in the presence of 'The God of Shinobi' a title only shared by one other. The Sage of the Six Paths._

_His mere presence was imposing in his own right. But the moment he had strolled into the meeting room with his students Jiraiya, and Tsunade flanking him as his escorts. Both of them worthy of the title of Kage in their own right. To say the powerhouse that was Konoha was still ever present and ever intimidating would be an understatement. It was considerably unnerving when three shinobi stroll into the room, and it was common knowledge that they could likely force the rest of the entire room into a stalemate. Their summons were unmatched, small and big._

_The only summon that could ever considerably oppose that sheer might of the ones the Sannin used would be those of the late Salamander Hanzo. Although after his supposed death, the contract had all but vanished._

_There was also the fact that the famed Monkey King of legend was said to be even stronger than Hiruzen himself. The famed trickster was said to have fought against the legend of Juubei and lived through sheer skill and trickery. It was a feat that could never truly be confirmed. And when the Monkey King was seen, it wasn't so he could simply boast. It was often so he could cripple you unless you were a Konoha ninja. Still it was unnerving because the older generation of shinobi had come to realize that even most legends have some truth to them. That was only further shown by Konoha's report on their battle with Pein._

_The fact that they could even get information on the enigmatic Akatsuki leader spoke volumes for their resources. Many shinobi they had sent in to Ame for information had simply died. They had long thought that to be due to the overly security conscious Hanzo. However the found that to not be the case most recently._

_Hiruzen continued with his statement, "And we should surround them with the brightest, the toughest, and the deadliest allies we can find."_

_"You sound as if you are gearing for a suicide mission old friend." the Tsuchikage snorted briefly at the idea. He had no love for Konoha, particularly their former Hokage. But he had grown up alongside the Third Hokage. Through war, and various chunin exams and celebrations. Not to mention he held a great deal of respect for The Professor._

_"This war is a suicide mission." the elder Hokage said ominously which immediately attracted the attention of the considerably younger Kage's in the room._

_There was something to be said about the power of villages that were still on their Third Kage's, whilst other village's were on their fourth and fifths. The only exception being that Konoha had a Fourth in the past, but he died. However... that Kage practically single handedly won a war with his fighting skill, and shortly after defeated the strongest of Biju. Once again single handedly with sealing techniques far beyond comprehension from multiple villages._

_The power the two villages held over the other's was considerably unnerving. Even the proud Raikage was willing to admit that. His father was powerful. He would be able to make a solid argument for his father beating the Kages before him in a fight, some quite easily. However he was not his father, and he still had much to learn despite his strength._

_"Our enemies have found out a way to recreate my former sensei's ability to bring back the dead. All of our mentors, everyone that has ever taught someone in this room can, and will be used against us." The aged Sarutobi chewed on his pipe a bit, blowing smoke from his nose as he looked around._

_"The Third and Forth Kazekage. Washing over battlefields with gold dust and iron sand." he said as he gestured to the youngest Kage alive._

_"The seven shinobi swordsman, of all generations." he said with a pointed look to the attractive Mizukage._

_"Your father." he said as he stared the Raikage in the eye, a visible tension suddenly locking up his form._

_"Your sensei." he said cooly as he gazed at the shorter man beside him. The shorter man didn't seem visibly tense or scared at that notion. But there was an unspoken level of fear for a few in the room. Few knew about the capabilities of a bloodline expansion, or the Second Tsuchikage's mastery over it._

_"That Akatsuki, Hanzo, The gold and silver brothers. Fallen jinchuriki..." he took a pause during his speech, "Every powerful shinobi that has fallen can and will be used against us in this war. A strong team is necessary."_

_"You speak as if you have already been decided as the leader." The Mizukage noted as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I was under the impression that you lost your Jinchuriki in Konoha's most recent battle."_

_A voice from the upper balcony made everyone tense and turn, ready for action. "Not quite." the voice called out._

_There was Uzumaki Naruto, in his Konoha ANBU gear. Accompanying him were none other that his former ANBU captain Uzuki Yugao, and former Akatsuki member Konan, The Angel of Ame._

_Although while the appearance of the shinobi was certainly surprising. There was nothing they could do to hold back their surprise, and fear as they gazed up at Naruto's eyes._

_Jiraiya was the first to speak what everyone had on their minds, "The Rinnegan..." he said quietly in awe, his mind drifting away to a prophecy about a world's savior he had heard long ago._

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Naruto snapped out of his memories he had fallen into while looking out of the window of this '_bus'_. He had to admit this was a rather useful piece of transportation in this world. At first glance it was probably incredibly useful. However as they drove further down the road, he had seen the types of transportation on fire, and quickly squashed the idea. It just meant any katon or raiton expert could send the car up in flames during war times. Still if it was a time of peace, and they repaved the dirt roads around the village. These could be excellent transportation and trading vessels.

It wasn't long before their blonde driver had taken them by the side of a cliff. During the act he had actually gripped Ayane's hand a bit tightly from his seat next to her. Although that was more due to if he needed to escape the vehicle quickly upon loss of control. Much less so the speed they were traveling. He would admit it was fast. It was probably a tad faster than shinobi chakra enhanced traveling in a straight up race. But the fact that it was confined to roads simply made it inefficient in comparison to traditional traveling in Naruto's eyes.

Although that was merely his personal opinion. He didn't really ever get tired. He could understand someone with lower stamina such as Sakura appreciating this sort of transportation.

Naruto on the other hand had his favorite, and as far as he was concerned it was forever set in stone. Konan using paper to create herself angel's wings, and then would proceed to drop him into a battlefield from high in the clouds. A tactic he had developed in the war with creative use of both of their innate abilities. Nothing was better than the panic in the eyes of the enemy as he was coming upon them from the sky.

"We managed, I guess." Naruto rolled his eyes a bit at Takashi's comment. It wasn't very morale boosting if you talked like you were barely scraping through encounters. Naruto stood up, and went over and grabbed Shizuka's medical bag.

"Yeah..." Kohta said quietly as if he couldn't believe it himself.

Naruto turned to go back to the injured student clutching his face in a deal of pain, his bag in the chair beside him. He was right across from Saeko, which that in itself wasn't a problem. If anything it was quite pleasant as she was the closest thing to a warrior he had found in this world. But the fact that the man dubbed Mr. Shido had taken to standing up beside her irritated him to no end.

Naruto marched forward, an intimidating feat in itself as everyone had not forgotten the display the blonde had shown during his rescue. However there was just no simple conversation started of "I know you were the one that cause all of those monsters to fly away from you, do you have special powers?" in a civilian dominated if not completely civilian world.

Shido backpeddled a tiny bit, but as far as Naruto was concerned, kicking him off the bus wouldn't get him far enough away from the man. And as such, it was quite a push from Naruto that sent him stumbling back to the back of the bus that gave Naruto some deal of satisfaction. Despite the fact he nearly pushed the teacher onto the unsuspecting short haired busty female in the back of the bus.

Naruto rummaged through the medical bag while quietly saying, "Show me your face." while masking his irritation. "What's your name?" he asked doing his best to keep an even tone.

The boy replied with a stiff lip, "Kaji Saito." he said in a deal of pain.

Shido however despite the look of fear in his eyes momentarily at being pushed around by the blonde. He took his fall gracefully and stood back up, "Thank goodness!" he cried out a bit dramatically before walking back forward. Although paying keen attention of standing outside of the blonde's reach as he tended to the student's wounded face with swabs and checking for potential rocks or glass that got stuck in his wounds.

"So would you be the leader Busujima-san?" Shido asked slowly keeping mindful eye on Naruto.

Saeko whom was more busy paying attention to Naruto do his work barely even recognized being addressed. She was instead far more interested in while a man like Naruto did not have the slightest bit of calloused fingers despite his skill with a blade. Even she gained rough hands from time to time, and she took extreme care of them despite her practice.

"There's no such thing." she finally replied. "We just work together in order to live, that's all."

"That's not good..." he teacher replied slowly in a rather condescending tone. "In order to survive, we definitely need a leader." His eyes raised in excitement as he said this, "A leader who bears everything."

Naruto had heard enough as he finished up with the student he tended to before quietly grabbing the map he had been clutching earlier moving to put the medical bag at the front of the bus with Shizuka-san. Although he was stopped by Rei almost violently grabbing him, and pulling him down to the a knee. However he settled for the seat across from her.

"You'll regret this." she said in a harsh whisper.

Naruto gaze back with a cold look. He wasn't in the slightest bit a fan of her repeated man handling on this subject. However he did gather a deal of respect for the girl as she continued to keep eyes locked with him, not faltering in the slightest.

"I guarantee you'll regret that you helped him!" she said with the same intensity, her voice hushed despite her conviction.

Naruto pursed his lips as he gave a sideways glance to the teacher returning to his seat before turning back to the brown haired girl. "I know." he said quietly not entirely paying attention to how he was speaking to the girl and he let slip, "I should have killed him when I had the chance." he whispered so only she could hear despite Takashi's close distance.

Rei appeared shocked for a moment that he would say such a thing before she began to look at Naruto in a new but wary light.

"But..." he continued, no longer caring since the metaphorical cat was out of the bag with her at the moment. "It's not about him, it was about all of them." he said quietly gesturing to all of the students that Shido had brought with him. "I doubt you wanted all of them to die simply because you don't like one person either." he said quietly before he sat back in his seat giving Rei the time to think and feel the weight of those words.

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"It's like I said!" a tall teen spoke out to the ground having stood up after they drove by a small convience store. "It's only dangerous if we keep going! First of all, why do we have to go with Komuro?" the large teen with two different hair colors all but spat. "You guys are the ones who decided to go back to the city. Maybe we should have just looked for a safe place inside the school."

Naruto resisted the urge to scoff at that. To him that seemed like a personal problem considering they only met them because they were running to the bus out in the parking lot.

A shorter and lankier new arrival further back in the bus seemingly agreed with the ridiculous statement though. "He's right." the teen cried, "We should barricade ourselves somewhere. Like that convenience store we just saw."

This only prompted the bus to come to a screeching halt, and nearly throw the standing passenger off his feet.

"That's enough!" the blonde doctor yelled down the bus. Although Naruto personally found it a bit hard to take the rather aloof big chested doctor seriously, when he chest swayed back and forth while she tried to make a statement.

It was one thing being a big chested doctor like Tsunade Senju whose skill in healing is virtually unmatched as is her strength, and the fact that she could kill most people with a finger flick if she so desired. It was another to be a like well... Shizuka-san, whom was pretty much the exact opposite of how Tsunade carried herself.

"I can't focus on driving with all of this commotion!" she continued to yell.

"Yeah... whatever..." the standing teen said slowly. The stress visible on his face told Naruto the teen was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

"Tell me what you want to do then." Saeko spoke up, always trying to play the resident peace keeper and protector of the group.

"I just can't!" he the teen yelled before pointing a finger toward Komuro. Naruto was sure there was some sort of story there. But the way Komuro acted, he didn't seem to know what it was. "I just can't stand him!"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw to his amusement, Saya stopping Kohta from firing off a nail at the yelling teenager.

"Why?" Komuro asked as he stood up, not willing to back down and take what the multi hair colored teen was saying. "When did I ever say anything to you?"

A flicker of anger showed in the guys eye's. Whether it be Komuro not remembering, or just white hot rage. Naruto couldn't pinpoint. "You bastard!" he yelled as he started to charge with his fist cocked. Naruto almost grimaced at how much the scene reminded him of his childhood bouts between himself and Sasuke.

Although the encounter was over just as quickly as it started as Rei was quick to stand, and slammed her makeshift spear into the bigger teen's gut causing him to crumple to the floor.

"Asshole..." she muttered. Naruto could read in her body language her patience with the situation was wearing thin. Far more frustrated with the newest arrivals that Naruto was. '_Although... I have been through training to supress my emotions in stressful times like these...'_ he mused to himself.

Clapping however brought him out of his muses as he turned to Mr. Shido now standing. "Bravo!" he began, "That was outstanding teamwork, Komuro-kun and Miyamoto-san. However at any rate, a conflict such as this only serves to prove my point." He grinned as he leaned forward to the two shorter teens, "We need a leader."

Naruto narrowed his eyes realizing what was going on.

"Oh? And we've got only one nominee?" Saya asked as she pushed her glasses further on her nose.

"I'm a teacher, Miss Takagi. And you guys are students. That alone makes it very clear who's more qualified. I can make sure we don't run into problems."

"What do you say, guys?" He asked. Naruto had to admit the man did have some deal of charisma. However as far as Naruto was concerned, he was dangerous. He would kill the man before he allowed him to lead the group.

Some students stood up clapping at his speech like mindless drones. Until the majority of the back end of the bus stood and began clapping.

"I suppose it's decided that I'm the leader, from now on. By a majority of the vote."

It appeared Rei had heard enough and jumped out of the bus at that, already seeing the eyes of students lighting up.

"Rei!" Takashi cried out to the girl abandoning the bus.

"No way!" she turned with a fire in her eyes, "I don't want to be with him! I refuse!"

Naruto in the mean time had been looking around the bus, and realized one important detail that Shido had apparently overlooked. The real majority wasn't on board.

"No you wont Shido-san." Naruto spoke out as he stood up, a cold glint in his eyes. "I will be the leader. And unlike you, I wont leave people behind to die." Naruto looked around at everyone looking at him in surprise.

"Some of you, I have saved your lives outright." Naruto said as he gave pointed looks to Saya, Ayane, and Saito. "Others I have risked my life for you." Naruto convienietly left out that there was really little risk involved in the stunts he pulled, in order for his personal little speech to hold any weight.

"However one thing is certain, I have not turned my back on any of you."

Everyone took a moment of pause as the looked over Naruto's form as he stood near the doorway of the bus. Even Rei was surprised, and had stopped walking off. She hadn't started walking back, but it was certainly a start.

The group he had been traveling with started looking around at each other in surprise, before an unspoken agreement was made between all of them that was somewhere between.

I want him as my leader and He is better than Shido.

One by one Saya, Saeko, Kohta, Takashi all spoke up. "I vote for Naruto as the leader."

This was followed by Rei, despite her being outside the bus, she wanted nothing more than to see Shido getting kicked to the side for once.

The blonde doctor looked on in surprise at the students that she was traveling with before she agreed with them, "I vote for Naruto-san." this came as a bit of a surprise to the group, the school doctor siding with a student over a teacher. But they personally couldn't complain.

Shido could only watch in horror as he realized that his fate as leader of the group suddenly rested on the fate of the next two votes.

Saito stood up and leveled a cold glare that was holding back an untold wrath for Shido. And Naruto understood completely why. Rei was angry with Shido. But if anyone truly had a bone to pick with the man, it was Saito, who was formerly left to die due to Shido's actions.

"I stand with Naruto." He said, gently removing his glasses and cradling them in his hand before standing. There were on their last legs at it was. He desperately needed them fixed.

Suddenly it was like a wave of relief washed over the entire front side of the bus as they realized the last person to cast their vote was none other than Ayane. "I vote for Naruto-san." she spoke quietly, once again few words.

Naruto glared at the treacherous man before speaking out in a commanding voice. "Then it is decided. I will lead!" he spoke out loud, before pointing his finger directly at Shido, "And you will follow!"

Shido flinched but leveled a dangerous glare at Naruto at the teen upsurping what he deemed as his leadership.

He whispered to himself so no one could hear, or so he thought. But what was said caused Naruto to tense a deal realizing he was only commanding a group of civilians.

_"The one who follows is forever at your back Naruto-san."_

Naruto clenched his fists at that. He wasn't in the slightest bit afraid of Shido. He was merely afraid of what the crazed man would do to the people he now proclaimed were under his protection.

A loud noise however broke everyone from their thoughts as Saeko yelled out, "Dr. Marikawa!" Sure enough an oncoming bus was rushing at the tunnel at full speed.

"Rei!" Takashi yelled to his childhood crush in fear as he tried to get himself off the bus in time. Although there was no was a civilian would make it in time.

A ninja on the other hand.

Naruto vaulted over the seats and people was an impressive display of quickness and agility, before he was out of the bus. He barely even made contact with the ground as he had jump out and scooped up Rei. And then in order to avoid the oncoming bus that was tipping over in mid air, he allowed his momentum to take him into the tunnel before him with the girl in his arms.

As the bus crashed into the tunnel he quickly covered the smaller girl under him as rocks and flaming scraps flew past them.

"Damnit..." Naruto said in frustration, quickly sitting up after the initial impact and looking at the entrance.

"Rei!" they heard Takashi's voice yell. Shortly after it was followed by another.

"Uzumaki-kun!" yelled Saeko in a deal of fear, "Are you all okay?"

Naruto grit his teeth at how awful the situation turned out. Even flaming monsters were piling out of the crashed vehicle.

"Find a place to stay for a couple nights!" He yelled. "You are Komuro are in charge, use force if you need to!" he added the last half as an after thought. "Protect Ayane!" He yelled the last bit. He honestly doubted though they would ever understand why.

To the group Ayane was probably a quiet questionmark. She didn't display any unique talents or skills. She didn't even talk much. And given her anxiety it wasn't as if she was the best team member you could think of.

However for Naruto, Ayane's chakra reserves were essentially a giant homing beacon in this virtually chakraless world. It was the only way he was really going to find them again after issuing out such vague orders.

"Rei are you alright!" Takashi yelled his question over the roaring flames.

Rei still under Naruto blushed a bit from the position, but quickly rose up onto her elbows not exactly want to push around her savior. "I'm okay Takashi!" she yelled back a small smile knowing that he was worried about her.

The smell of gasoline spilling however caused Naruto to pull Rei up. "We need to run!" he said as he pulled the surprised girl along. Saeko and Takashi both seemed to take that as a warning to get the hell out of there as well. And the warning was sound as it wasn't even mere moments after that when a large explosion rocked the tunnel.

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Alright well I guess this wraps up another chapter of the story. I don't know how I feel about posting this quick and what not. I personally would have preferred to hold this chapter a couple days more, but I figured what the hell. People are reviewing and giving input, so I might as well post a bit quicker.

Anyways as you can see how I am writing a bit with this story. Naruto thinks over things a lot, and plays a bit more of a silent type in this story. You can see his thoughts, but the characters find him a bit more enigmatic. The reason for this is for a number of reasons, but first and foremost, this is not the type of Naruto that would put everything on the line for people he doesn't even know. You will get to see that more thoroughly as time goes on.

Anyways I got some interesting opinions on the pairing requests. However I have yet to have any of my personal opinions on them change. An example for me would be, just because Shizuka is innocent does not make her a proper candidate to be paired with this particular Naruto. Same can frankly be said for any generic answer. While some I admit a bit better with their generic answers(Ex: Saeko is a killer, and enjoys it) fits a bit better than(Shizuka is so innocent she would counter balance Naruto).

While they both may be reasons, Saeko fits outright, where as Naruto would essentially have to change to be with Shizuka. While neither options are bad ones. It is just how I am judging how you make pairing requests. So if you expand on your suggestions, and try and sway my opinion? I'll listen to it. I actually look forward to it. However simply stating a loose generic answer won't do that for me.

Finally if anyone is wondering? More dialog will be slowly working it's way into the story as Naruto slowly but surely gets more comfortable around other people. Right now though, he just isn't, and for that reason doesn't talk.

So all in all...

Please review, tell me what you think from big to even small details. I'm trying to make a good story here, and all input is welcome and appreciated.

Edit: Since I was still around on the site after posting, I'll respond to this particular review in case others have a similar question.

Darksnider05: "

"Shinra Tensei." Kinda had stop there that is beyond silly right now I have no idea who this story is about or who your character is.

He's some random guy with blonde hair who's called Naruto he's beyond weak can't handle a school full of zombies it's sad.

First thing no shinobi would hide their skills because where their from everyone has those skills or is able to gain them it's not rare or unusual.

So why would any shinobi think these people have never seen Chakra before. Why o why does he need the lameness that is the Rinnegan the most over powered bloodline that makes this even sillier for zombies.

You started this fic saying normal Naruto would of been a hero and tried to save the city which is true. The person your writing about has a bloodline that is literally nuclear bombs for eye balls. You wanna write about a quiet stealthy Naruto yet you've given him the loudest most showy bloodline of all.

There is no hiding the effects of that bloodline. Consistency urg. This person is just annoying and as a leaf ninja he's pretty much a failure.

I have already established at the start of the story that this Naruto would be different than the normal canon Naruto, simply because I felt that canon Naruto wouldn't fit in this universe. So the typical actions that a canon Naruto. The boy who was a paragon poster child benin, always fighting for what was right, learning under Jiraiya and saving Tsunade? This Naruto does not exist. The time line was changed as was his training. So choices that Naruto made in canon wouldn't necessarily be the choices this Naruto had made in his life.

For example in regards to the Rinnegan? The normal Naruto let Pein rest in peace, only for his eyes to be taken later on by Tobi. This Naruto however was trained differently, and would have acted differently because of it. Whether that be by asking for Pein's eyes, Konan's help, or even taking Pein's eyes by force. Whether that be to use him for his own, or destroy him. He would have handled the situation differently. And for that reason it showed.

As for Shinobi not hiding their skills. Why wouldn't they? Shinobi ALWAYS hide their skills unless they need to be used. A perfect example would be when Kisame and Itachi confront Naruto and Jiraiya only to be interrupted by Sasuke. Itachi didn't use a single skill he didn't personally dub as necessary. He didn't do anything flashy to stop an incoming Chidori, he just moved the arm out of the way. So when Naruto furthermore realizes that none of the people in this world have Chakra? That is an even greater reason to not want to showcase his abilities.

As for him having a loud showy bloodline? Just because someone has a loud showy bloodline does not mean they try to be loud and showy. It is like if Itachi was born with the Rinnegan. His bloodline may be loud and showy. However would that personally stop him from his pacifist ways? Would that stop him from being a silent Anbu, perfect example of shinobi? No it wouldn't.

Anyways I'm sorry you feel that way about the story, hopefully you get to see this, because you have your Private Messages are turned off.


	4. For Tonight I'll Be Your Cornerstone

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead.

**An important note, short but read:** I want to let it be known that for any reader unfamiliar with how I write. The relationships in the stories I write are never simple. So just because you see characters getting close does not necessarily mean that they are the "pairing"... It just means that two characters are getting close. After being on the site for nearly 10 years, I know how people get when they see characters getting close like this. I just don't want to see the reviews flooded with "I can't believe you made it NarutoXblahblahblah. Have you not listened to reviews!" etc etc etc. So without further wait, please feel free to read on.

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Naruto took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair before he heard the sound of movement that wasn't Rei's. A monster had launched itself from a flight of stairs at the young Uzumaki, fully intent on biting the young man. The irony of the whole situation was that the monster was wearing a helmet for some reason.

Regardless, the thing didn't stand a chance. Naruto caught the monster by the helmet in mid air, and then slammed him to the ground with enough force to kill the abomination and crack the helmet.

Rei frowned heavily at Naruto's immense display of strength. His body did not seem to be the type that should have been capable of displaying that much power. "I don't understand how you are able to kill these zombies with such ease Naruto-san. It is like you have practiced doing it?" Rei commented hoping to sate her own curiosity.

Naruto on the other hand was more curious about her own comment than her question about his abilities, "Zombies?" he asked curiously before looking down at the being under his hand.

"Hirano-san was going on about creatures similar to these things being called zombies in TV shows over seas." she said quietly, how tired she was becoming quiet evident by the way he shoulders were lax and how she held her spear.

Naruto frowned as the stood up, his eyes still cast down. _'Well at least I have a name for the creatures now.'_ Naruto thought to himself.

Naruto shook his head as he reached into his back pocket for the map he had quietly borrowed without asking from Saito when he finished tending his wounds. He moved without saying a word to be under the street lamp, as Rei quietly followed.

Naruto crouched down on the grass by the river and the street lamp as he unfolded the map in the light. He could honestly see incredible well in the dark, particularly given his profession. But making out small details on a sheet of paper in the dark would still be quite troublesome.

And then as he unfolded the map for the first time since he had appeared in this world, he felt lost. He had been able to seamlessly get his group out of the school, as well as gather their respect from his bravery and skills. And all of that now weighed down on his inability to read a foreign map.

Rei had stuck her spear into the ground in a bit of surprise, "Oh? A map? Where did you get that Naruto-san?" she asked trying to be polite to well... her leader. The idea seemed so foreign and strange to her. Just yesterday she was an everyday girl. A smart one that got straight A's, but still rather regular besides that. She had good father, a bit of an eccentric mother, a sweet boyfriend. Then in one day, everything had change to the point that she needed a leader and a map to even walk down the street effectively.

"I took it from Saito to look at after I finished with his wounds. I would have given it back had all of this not happened." Naruto said in a bit of frustration still trying to figure out where he was, having been used to working alone. Or alternatively working with a few shinobi he trusted that could either fly or had been in the field for quite awhile.

Rei felt a pang of guilt at that thought. Never did she think that the boy before her that couldn't be more than a couple years older than her would command more authority over her classmates than Mr. Shido, a teacher. It was pretty much completely her fault that they were stuck out there now. "Sorry." she said slowly as she crouched down beside Naruto, being mindful of her rather short school skirt, and not wanting to give Naruto a free show.

However that thought didn't seem to cross the boys mind in the slightest as he looked around past her as if she wasn't there while gently tracing his finger over the map.

"What are you looking for?" Rei asked with a soft raised eyebrow, silently thankful for the boy's respect and self control.

"Where the hell we are on this thing. I'm not from around here." Naruto said a bit distastefully. This wasn't even like a standard map. Saito, the student that had this likely had some sort of project or something with the map. It was littered with numerous notes, as well as with very small stickers, every shop was labeled. It was as if he was busy trying to make a full layout of the city, without simply taking a picture of it from the sky.

Rei seemed to notice the slight slip up Naruto spoke of as she leaned a bit over the map, moving onto her knees, thankful that the grass was dry. "You're not from around here?" she asked quietly trying to make conversation. "Where are you from then?" She asked as she brushed her hair behind her ear before leaning and looking over the map.

After a long day, and many suppressed snorts and scoffs, Naruto had let one through. "You wouldn't believe me in the slightest even if I told you." he said rather confidently, although in Rei's eyes he didn't appear as if he was trying to be insulting.

Rei just took it in stride looking to know more about their now supposed leader. "Well how about this, I tell you where we are, you tell me where you're from." she said with a smile trying to make a small but bright game in their gloomy situation.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched a bit as he thought _'She should tell me where we are regardless of what I tell her if she doesn't want to get lost.'_ but none the less he nodded. Even if he told her, it changed nothing as she wouldn't believe him. It was part of the reason he didn't feel the need to develop any form of a relationship with the few students around him. The moment he dropped Ayane off, he could figure out how to get home and be done with everyone else. Although... that probably wouldn't be the best thing to tell Rei at this given moment.

"Alright." she said a bit of cheer in her voice. She seemed like to type to enjoy meeting new people. Probably more so before this world went to hell, and less so now. She gently moved Naruto's hands off the map before turning the map and proceeded to point to a spot. "We are right here, we just moved through this tunnel under this highway."

Naruto pursed his lips as he looked over the map in a new light with the additional knowledge as he plotted his course of action judging from where he could sense Ayane's chakra from here. "Fine." he muttered in a bit of annoyance not entirely wishing to be forthcoming as he folded up the map so it would just show the particular section they currently resided in.

"I'm not from this world." he said as he stood up and gave Rei a serious look.

Rei looked him in the eye seemingly upset at his lie. But as she continued to stare, and his expression seemed to be unwavering, her eyes comically widened. "Wait are you serious?" she asked in almost a yell of surprise as she thought of the display in the parking lot that had gone utterly unexplained except for that no normal human could do it.

Naruto did a double take as he turned to face her fully and looked at her incredulously. "You believe me?" Naruto asked not quite believing that she actually believed him. If he was in her shoes, he sure as hell wouldn't.

Rei frowned as she too stood up, "Well why would you lie?" she asked. "What's the point?" she said as she tilted her head to the city that had pillars of smoke rising from various areas. "I mean it would explain what you did in the hallway and in the parking lot I guess. I suppose it would also explain why you are dressed weirdly and carry around weapons while in the school. Not to mention your skill with them."

Naruto didn't know how to feel about her easy acceptance. Initially he simply felt she was just foolishly naive at the mere question of why _he_... _a shinobi_... would lie. That and the fact that she had said he was dressed wierd. Naruto pursed his lips and said nothing as he began to walk down the road.

Rei was almost a bit surprised by this action as she scrambled up off the ground and picked her spear out of the dirt, "Well I mean that's true right?" she asked as she caught up in step with the blonde.

Naruto spared the girl a glance still trying to comprehend her acceptance, "Yeah it's true. I just don't understand why you are so accepting of the idea." He said a bit sourly under the impression she was pulling his leg. If she honestly believed him? This wasn't the situation he was originally counting on. Were people visiting from other worlds common here? The thought tightened the warriors stomach even though he knew it shouldn't effect him that much.

Rei blew a few strands of hair out of her face as they settled into a brisk walk alongside the blonde. "Well." she began thoughtfully, "Yesterday I was just a regular girl going to school. I went to my classes. I had a good boyfriend. I went to clubs and spent time with my parents. However today everything changed. The students I went to school with I had to kill in order to escape. Those students that ended up dying would come back from the dead to try and kill us. I guess I don't know what to think anymore. How strange is someone being from another world, when everything else in the world has turned to chaos?" She asked, their formerly brisk pace of walked had slowed as Naruto let her words sink in.

Naruto pursed his lips and figured it wouldn't hurt to throw the girl a bone and open up a bit. She didn't outwardly freak out when he let slip he was thinking of killing Shido earlier. "I'm from the Elemental Nations, more specifically Fire Country in the village of Konoha." he said quietly to gauge her reaction. They walk once again had stopped as he gazed at her.

To her a credit, it took Rei only a moment to process what exactly was said. However before a serious frown could appear on Naruto's face, she nodded. "Well... whats it like?" She asked.

Naruto relaxed a great deal as he took in the tone of her voice. Her skepticism was completely apparent, but she was just being polite not to completely blow him off. He could deal with that far better than he could deal with what he formerly assumed was blind faith.

"Different..." he said as he looked around at the large buildings in the distance, once again beginning a slow pace, one which Rei evenly matched. "This world is a lot more technologically advanced than where I'm from. Like we don't have these cars or these bus things that you all have. However at the same time the people are a lot weaker here." he said honestly. Although Naruto realized this did serve to make Rei a bit upset if her scowl was any indication, so Naruto elaborated.

"I don't mean that as an insult." he explained, "Where I am from, most of the world is at war with each other. A large portion of the population trains to become shinobi... or ninja I guess I should say from their childhood." Naruto explained in simpler terms for the young teen walking beside him.

Rei's skepticism was quite refreshing as she looked at Naruto incredulous, "You're saying... you're a ninja." she deadpanned as she looked at him as if he had just said he could create a moon.

Naruto nodded, further emphasised by him pulling out a kunai and a shurikan from one of his pouches as if it was a show of proof.

Rei took a good few moments not moving as her eyes moved over Naruto, then up to his face before back to the weapons in his hand, before repeating the process. Rei grimaced as she realized that perhaps she didn't want to know that her world was this far turned upside down. Zombies, and now real life ninjas appearing in her world. Her social bubble used to be so peaceful...

She took a deep breath and decided to ask, "And how young are you when you start training to become... a ninja." her twitching eyebrow was rather amusing as she couldn't even believe she was asking the question.

Naruto held back his amusement and stated bluntly, "Four."

Rei tripped.

Although Naruto was quick and caught her be the waist before she slammed into the concrete, but he could no longer suppress his giggles.

"Are you just screwing with me?" She asked with a glare taking in his chuckling form.

"No I'm being completely serious. I'm honestly surprised you are this understanding." he said with still barely contained amusement.

Rei grit her teeth at that, "Well, so it's like a military right?"

Naruto nodded his head at that, but said nothing.

"So what rank were you?" Rei questioned as she ushered Naruto over to a fallen motorcycle.

A silence fell over the duo as Naruto got a far away look in his eyes and they took a few minutes to set up the bike and roll it up the hill. It was during these moments that Naruto was able to truly think about everything that he was trying to get back to in his world. Everyone that was counting on him. Rei almost thought he didn't hear her question. However after she got ready to get on the bike, she got her answer.

"I was commanding general of the joint shinobi alliance forces." he said with a detached voice as he looked down at the bike, not really caring all that much about what they were doing anymore.

Rei looked a bit surprised, but she did her best to hide it. That rank sounded pretty high. But she didn't particularly want to jump the gun as she had no idea how high that rank actually was in their military. "How high of a rank is that?" she asked curiously.

Naruto pursed his lips at the thought, "The highest rank ever achieved in the Elemental Nations." he said quietly. That seemed to end their discussion on his home world for the time being.

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"Naruto-san! Please! Can you hold on to me tighter! It's hard to balance the bike when you lean back like that!" She said loudly as the wind whipped past her face. She had to admit it that it was almost comical the situation they were in. Although she would never actually admit it out loud.

Rei didn't want to sound arrogant, but she knew that as a woman she had the all the right curves in all the right places. Training with her dad at the police station with bayonets had considerably helped with staying in shape while keeping a good figure. Joining the spear martial arts club only further helped her body. And the fact that her body grew rather young, given that she was only fifteen. She had quite the body.

So the fact that she practically had to beg Naruto to hold on closer to her just so she could keep the bike steady was almost comical. Multiple times she had needed to pull over and stop just in order to find her balance on the bike once again. She had never driven anything in her life, and she wasn't entirely fond of the idea of having to learn how to drive in some sort of Zombie apocalypse.

Hell, she never envisioned herself driving in the first place. She personally always felt that if anyone in their group would ever be driving it would always be Shizuka-sensei or Takashi. Takashi always had a thing for driving the few cars he had the opportunity to even though he never had a license.

She resisted the urge to swing an elbow back when the blonde seemed to heed her request in an almost comical fashion. He had opted to scoot up extremely close and virtually cling every muscle on his chest to her back. He proceeded to wrap one arm tightly across her stomach, while another arm across her chest, latching his hand onto her shoulder. He then rested his chin on her free shoulder. And then he proceeded to start speaking in a bored tone, much to Rei's frustration.

"On no we're going to crash..." Naruto drawled. "Am I holding tight enough?" Although silently Naruto would never admit, he had almost perfected annoying his allies after his battles and encounters with Tobi.

Rei sighed thinking her life couldn't get much more frustrating than that moment. But she couldn't help but smile at the blonde's antics, despite the fact that she probably would have hit him on any other occasion. It seemed that after she had accepted him opening up to her, he had loosened up quite a deal in contrast to how he was around the others when he was on the bus.

Yet as quick as the antics began from the blonde, they quickly died. His grip on the brown haired girl in front of him considerably softened, and he once again leaned back again just enjoying the ride Rei could only assume. He had even removed the rather offending arm, and simply settled for a handle lightly resting on her stomach. Although she secretly felt that he was just doing that for her comfort. While he said he didn't know how to drive or ride the motocycle they were on. His balance on it was flawless, he didn't falter for a second as she went through some twisting turns. He had even helped her stabilize the bike a couple of times.

The ride was mostly in silence, they had probably been driving around for nearly a couple hours. Naruto just would occasionally pull out the map from his pocket, and point in the general direction he wanted Rei to go. It was quite ridiculous in her opinion. She felt like "The General's Personal Driver" as they road around the city.

She however was broken from her thoughts when the blonde spoke.

"Is there any way to make this thing go any faster, it is going a bit slow." Naruto said calmly in her ear.

Rei looked down and frowned, the meter saying she was going sixty-four. She knew it wasn't that fast. Takashi would brag sometimes about going speeds at least ten or fifteen higher. She personally didn't even feel comfortable going that fast given that at any turn they could be coming across a vacant car. And given this was her first time driving, on a motorcycle no less, she wasn't a huge fan of the idea.

"Erm why, do you want to try and drive it faster?" she asked. She knew her lack of confidence was bleeding through, but she didn't particularly care at the moment. She was more just focused on not ending both of their lives in something as trivial as a under aged driving accident with those zombies walking around freely.

Naruto's answer only served to surprise her though, and she didn't know what to think. "No it's not that, its just if this is as fast as we can safely go on this thing. You should just let me put you on my back so I can run. It's pretty late and I'm sure you're rather tired.

Rei raised an eyebrow at that, was he just insulting how she drove the motorcycle? "Umm no, I can make this go faster." she relented with a frown. "Just let me go stop for some gas." she said quietly. She wouldn't admit it, but Naruto's statement made her feel... well bad. Almost like he didn't approve of her.

Before hand when they were just running around through the school. She would admit that he was brave, and skilled. But to her that really meant nothing, she didn't need his approval. The only thing that really mattered was getting to safety with Takashi. It was likely the ideals everyone had in their group. Everyone had arrived in pairs of two, and each one had specifically looked out for one another on a level far greater than that of which they looked out for other people in the group.

However now it was just him... and her. She didn't even know if she would ever even get to see Takashi again. Naruto didn't seem to be worried about finding the group. But he only said that they may need to find a place to sleep for a few nights. He didn't say any more than that. They were expected to track down a group of people in a zombie infested city on a whim basically. Rei didn't have much hope.

Then add to the fact the Blonde's background? He was some sort of super trained ninja from the age of four that achieved the highest military rank in his world by seventeen?

Rei's body tensed at that. At the fact that she realized that she indeed was seeking his approval. The girl leaned forward on the bike slowly as in began to speed up. And quickly, that sixty-four on the meter had turned into a ninty-four. But more importantly...

Naruto had taken to wrapping both of his arms around her form in order to hold on, and said nothing else about the speed of the ride.

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Naruto smiled lightly as they came to a stop at what Rei called a 'Gas Station'. He didn't quite understand what it was, but there was gasoline where he came from. Just no stations dedicated to it's distribution.

The ride he had to admit had been rather boring for the first part of it. The speed was only a little bit faster than the speed at which a ninja could comfortably run. But then you had to take into account that a ninja was often running across water, or up cliffs, or through tree lines. And over all the ride was rather dull as it simply followed relatively open roads into the city.

However the last part of the ride after his suggestion to carry Rei, he didn't know what changed, but she decided to go faster. He had to admit the ride was considerably more fun as they reached speeds that no ninja could hope to run at for a long distance without any special abilities involved. He just hoped he didn't hurt the girl's feelings or that she didn't take what he said the wrong way.

"So what do we do here?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, as he unwrapped his arms from around the girl.

She gave him a look that was silently asking if he was an idiot before she quickly realized his rather unique situation. "Right, you don't have any idea what this is do you?"

Naruto simply shook his head and voiced his earlier thoughts, "We had gasoline where I came from for stoves and what not, but we didn't have a place dedicated to distributing it. It simply wasn't in that big of supply. Particularly after someone developed a unique power source that siphoned a power from seals that had raiton chakra stored inside of them."

Rei looked at Naruto curiously for a moment almost expecting an explanation to seals and chakra. However Naruto seemed a bit lost in thought as he looked around the gas station as if he was hearing things.

Rei shook her head and sighed. She knew that she wouldn't gain a total understanding of the blonde after spending only a few hours with him. And she could accept that. She just wish she had a bit of a greater knowledge base of... anything revolving around him. All conversation about his personal life had died on the note of his military rank.

"Alright." Rei said, "Well this looks like a self serve gas station like the one's my dad occasionally uses. I don't have any money though so you are going to need to go in there and break the register for some cash." she said calm, volunteering the shinobi for the job.

Naruto didn't seem to care, he just nodded his head, "Alright be careful, I'm hearing something out here, just keep your guard up." he said as if he was talking to one of his shinobi under his command. However the statement didn't serve to make the young schoolgirl any bit safer. She now silently wished that she was the one going into the store to break the register.

She did have some level of comfort though. She felt Naruto was probably only hearing a distant zombie or something like that. And given how they always seemed to stagger and groan upon approach. If she remained relatively silent, she could get the jump on it.

Naruto stepped into the store and took a glance around for a second, extending his senses. Upon knowing the coast was clear from the simple few seconds it took to check, he walked over to the register and stared at it for a moment.

He then knelt down and saw a keyhole in the bottom of the register, and quickly went through his tools to pick the lock in order to not make noise.

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Rei sighed as she was lost in thought. She leaned against a stone column in between a couple stations for distribution of gas. Her mind wandered in between what Takashi was doing, and the few bits and pieces of information she had learned about Naruto.

Part of her knew that Takashi would be safe, particularly alongside Busujima-san. However that thought didn't make her feel that much better as a sinking feeling of jealousy crept up inside of her. There was a time where she and Takashi were close, but then one day quite abruptly that time had come to an end as his friend Hisashi had proven to be there for her more so than Takashi had been when she needed him.

She knew it wasn't completely fair to be jealous and to want him to stay away from the purple haired student that was technically her senior. After all she by all accounts had a boyfriend only about twelve hours ago. Still that didn't stop the sinking feeling in her gut that wondered if he even cared if she was jealous. And the thought that she slightly hoped that he was jealous of that fact that she was alone with Naruto.

However all of those thoughts came to an abrupt halt as something crept up from behind and grabbed her.

She let out a piercing scream, as something grabbed her chest believing that any moment, a bite to the neck was coming. However it was then as whatever grabbed her ripped at and eventually ripped off her school shirt, and pointed a knife at her throat that she realized she was not dealing with a zombie. And it was why this person got the jump on her despite her thoughts being elsewhere.

A zombie did not have the intelligence to sneak up on a person like a living breathing human being. At least as far as they knew.

That thought quickly died though as the sick freak proceeded to grope at her now barely covered chest, and started to fiddle with her skirt while holding a knife to her throat. He was breathing heavily, and she could only pray that nothing further would happen.

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Naruto had rushed outside with the speed of a seasoned shinobi the moment he had heard the scream, and his worried face instantly turned into a cold one at the sight before him.

It was barely a couple articles of clothing from rape, and that thought alone soured his mood. He had seen quite enough of that before the war with all of the various bandit camps that were able to skate by being on the outskirts of country borders. Far enough away from the shinobi villages. But close enough to being able to cross a near by border so that shinobi would have to risk provoking an act of war in pursuit of them.

Rei's face that was formerly one full of a confidence that he respected. Now that same face was one that was filled with distress and panic. She was growing teary eyed by the second at her situation. _'Yeah well who can fucking blame her...'_ Naruto added his conscious thought.

"Hey bro! Your girl is pretty cute!" he taunted Naruto. "Kinda surprising really! You dress a like idiot!" He barked out a laugh.

Naruto resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the last bit. His clothes were his clothes. Call him an idiot for wearing them all they wanted. The clothes had a very fine link weaved only possible by an expert craftsman that made the clothes he was wearing virtually a suit of armor. The link laid in between a couple layers of fabric that had seals in it to regulate the temperature of the fabric to a comfortable degrees, up to the shinobi's personal preference. He wouldn't give up his clothes in this hell bent world for anything but a way back home.

"You should let her go." Naruto stated calmly. Although he didn't want to draw a weapon, he knew he was perfectly capable of using that idiot's own knife against him the moment the opportunity arose.

"You dumb? Like hell I'd do that. If I'm going to survive this monster filled shit hole, I need a woman." He only further made his intentions clear as he groped Rei's breast, trying to peel the bra down, while still maintaining firm control over her body.

"I'm going to repeat myself again, you should let her go." Naruto said with a cool edge to his voice.

"Are you insane?" the guy asked in respond. Naruto resisted the urge to snort at the irony. "All of my family turned into those things in front of me! I had to smash ev-"

"Shut up, I don't care. Let her go, or it will end badly."

Rei's eyes bugged at Naruto's statement. '_Is he trying to get me killed?_' She kicked out of the man's arms and got a couple steps forward, but couldn't get further than that before the man gripped her by her chest once again.

Naruto clenched his jaw at Rei's move right there. She nearly slit her own throat open trying to break out of the man's grip. He shot her a very pointed glare, but she didn't even notice as she cried out at being touched again.

"You don't care?" The man gave a crazed laugh once again before moving in closer on the girl. "Her tits and her voice are might fine! And this ass!" he said as he clutched at her throat with a knife, ripping her skirt off with a deal of force.

Naruto's eyes narrowed further at the action. He never appreciated hostage situations. The reality of hostage situations is that nine times out of ten, if the person has only a single hostage, they aren't going to kill them. Because doing so would only mean that they were going to be killed moments later. So you often just had to stand there and watch often disturbing things until a proper opening was shown. However at this distance, with this idiot. Naruto despite his rising anger was sure he wouldn't have to wait much longer.

"Hey... you fuck her, right? Every night, don't you?" the man asked as Naruto kept a cold blank stare. However he did tense a bit as the man's hand began to wander further south. It made Naruto just want to take the risk, and make the kill, despite the obvious danger.

The man raised his arm back up at Naruto's lack of response, "Or... wait... You don't? You idiot!" he burst out laughing. "Now fill up the fucking bike! While I have fun with-"

"Naruto!" Rei cried in fear and panic at the thought.

Naruto clenched his jaw and took a step forward. And he honestly wish he had done so earlier, as it prompted a rookie mistake. "Fill up the bike or you'll be d-"

He pointed the knife at Naruto, instead of the hostage.

Naruto was in the guys face in a second, Naruto utilizing the man's own fist and arm to jab the knife into his throat, before slitting it open in a shower of blood.

The man crumbled to the ground wide eyed, dropping his knife and clutching at his throat.

"Dead?" Naruto asked finishing the man's earlier sentence cold dead eyes of a shinobi. A freightening sight truth be told. However the shower of blood that rained down from a throat being viciously cut open being poured on both Naruto and Rei did not stop the girl from running into his arms crying.

Naruto adopted a surprised look on his face as the near naked girl crashed into his chest sobbing over the very near rape experience. However as she leaned against him sobbing, he was suddenly brought back to the six year old blonde running down the street pulling pranks. Proclaiming that he was going to become Hokage so that he could protect everyone.

Naruto pursed his lips as he slowly wrapped his arms around the girl, despite the dying man at their feet.

She needed someone to remind her that she was safe.

And tonight he was reminded of a time where he wanted to keep people safe.

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Alright and that is another chapter. This chapter actually is only half of a chapter. The original chapter I wanted to post was about 12k words, and I simply didn't wanna post that much. I personally feel that when chapters start going into the double digit range? It becomes hard to sum up the events that really happened in the chapter, and it takes away from the key ones and generalizes them. Something I am not quite a fan of.

Anyways this was some more insight into Naruto's character, and you can see a bit as to why he acts how he does. Simply keep in mind that while all of this is going on here, every moment he sticks around in this world, his world is without's it's commanding general, and is likely losing the war because of it.

It was also a bit of a look at Rei I suppose. A lot of people aren't the biggest fan of her character. Either you are a fan of Rei or Saeko in most cases. More are fans of Saeko. However I personally always felt Rei had a lot of untapped potential with the concept of being a police officer's daughter, her street smarts, and how well she seemingly adapted to the situation. (Being honest, she adapted better than anyone else in the series. Any issues she had were with actual living people. The only one that could really be argued to having adapted better would be Shizuka... but she has no character anyways...)

So now finally I have been asking you to mention things about how you feel about X girls and why. And frankly you are still perfectly able to do so. There is actually a particular idea I am mulling over in my head right now that a reviewer left for me that I may end up using. So you do all help in regards to that. So feel free to continue posting about it or any ideas you have on it.

However more importantly for me right now.

**I like Rika's character and want to add her into the story sooner(Her presence with meeting up with the actual team) Leave reviews on how you think I could do that.**

(I am personally mulling over a very direct and early phone call from Naruto that gets straight to the point before handing the rest of the phone conversation to Shizuka. However I am hoping to think up a better idea soon.)

So anyways read and review, I actually do look forward to them. The fact that this story has actually been getting such popularity, interest, and good reviews is why I'm posting a bit faster than I feel I should be.

**Info on Naruto's shackle slowly bleeds into the story as Naruto takes the time to analyze it.**


	5. A Calm Before The Storm

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead.

Once again, the actions in this chapter don't solidify any form of pairing or what so ever. It is just character building in general. I don't know what the pairings are as of yet.

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Naruto sighed as he carried the sleeping girl in his arms up the side of an apartment building. He wasn't all that keen on the idea of actually going through the apartment complex while Rei was actually asleep and her current state of dress. So he opted for taking the ninja's way into an apartment.

Chances were given how scarce things were in the city, it would be pretty easy to find an empty apartment that was likely to be a bit sparse where the two of them could relax and get a night's rest. He would hope that it would be a good night's rest, but he figured that would be a bit much to ask for after the events that unfolded nearly an hour ago.

Naruto evened his breathing as he hefted himself onto a third story balcony of the apartment building he had stumbled upon. The glass door was open, but he highly doubted that meant any type of security risk. As far as he had seen, there were no such things as flying zombies. All he had to worry about was the potential for them to be in the room he was about to enter.

Naruto set Rei down gently outside on the balcony, before taking a large leap to just gain a moments vision of the roof of the apartment complex. After everything that happened that night, he wasn't about to lose his sleeping friend to something as random as a zombie walking off the side of a rooftop.

_'Friend'_ Naruto thought over with a pause when he looked down to the blood stained brown haired girl. Since when had he ever started thinking of anyone in this world as a friend? Sure there were people he would protect, and had protected. He even had what he felt were his own personal obligations to people due to guilt and unspoken deals as well as various other things. However he never once really considered them friends.

Naruto looked down at the girl who despite the stressful night appeared to be sleeping rather peacefully. It was then that he realized why he thought of the girl as a friend. She had accepted him, and accepted him practically instantly without much of a second thought.

There was a time in his life that Naruto remembered vividly where he wished to be accepted. And how he dreamed to be acknowledge by those around him. How desperately he wished to have a friend while he was going through school.

And the fact that he had achieved such things so easily with Rei left an oddly warm feeling in his chest coupled with a sad emptiness. The warm feeling was obvious to him. He merely wished he could have shook the cold feeling that crept up in him and told him that he could have had a better life if he had ended up in this world sooner.

Naruto shook his head free of thoughts and stepped through the threshold of the apartment before slowly and quietly closing the glass door behind him. He hoped Rei wouldn't wake and start a panic, because Naruto knew he was only going to be gone for a couple moments.

And with that he was gone in a flash. The speed at which he was able to search room to room of the empty house would have been incredible to anyone that wasn't a shinobi. He barely needed to spend no more than five seconds in each room in order to effectively check the room high and low for any unwelcome guests.

He pushed aside the irony of the fact that he himself was likely an unwelcome guest.

It was quick, effective, and decisive. He had cleared the house in exactly twenty-seven seconds, and was opening the glass door with the house lights on within thirty seconds. He gently stepped inside with Rei scooped back up into his arms only to gently lay her on the couch.

He made his way through the house, taking a closer look at it now that he was sure it was safe. It was obvious that there had been quite the struggle in the house. There were tables and chairs flipped over in what could only be considered the living room. Kitchen knives half way drawn out as if someone was deciding upon choosing that as a weapon, before finding something else. Even the sink's cold tap was slowly running. However he doubted the apartment owners would care. He frankly doubted the apartment owners were alive.

He moved his way into the bathroom, and prepared a hot shower before moving into the bedroom and giving it a once over glance. He had the slightest smile of appreciation at the former owners of the house. They kept their room clean at least, even the bed was made, and tidy.

Naruto had the sick cold but slightly amusing thought flash through his mind of the idea of there instead being a resident maid, and in the process of making the bed she was attacked by zombies. She ended up scrambling into the living room, crashing over furniture only to get into the kitchen and searching for a weapon. The idea that she found the knife rack, but instead opted for hitting the creature with the next closest thing... such as a cooking pot before killing it. She then proceeded to carry the body out of the back door, and dumping it off of the balcony and leaving the apartment not bothering to close the glass sliding balcony door.

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest as he played over the scene in his head in amusement. But the amusing scene for the trained shinobi died at the realization of the lack of blood in the apartment. No, the people that lived here were probably simply evacuees.

Naruto moved back into the living from and silently grabbed the fallen tables and chairs, and proceeded to barricade the door, another thing he felt slightly ironic given his barricading is for failure's speech he gave earlier in the day. However he shook his head clear of his thoughts confirming that he knew what he was doing.

He was a ninja, Rei knew he was a ninja. There was nothing to hide. If he needed to make an escape, he would simply take her and jump off the balcony. Or alternatively jump on to the roof. He still had plenty of escape routes despite barricading the only plausible zombie entrance.

He then moved back into the bedroom, and reached into his ninja tool bag pulling out his trusted sealing scroll. Standard Anbu issue. Compact, sleek, ten feet. He unrolled it a perfect two and a half feet before resting eyes on the neatly scrawled seal of just what he needed. He reached down to the scroll with two fingers and gently channeled a tiny bit of chakra before the universal sound of sealing scrolls popped in his ears. With a tiny bit of smoky wisps of chakra, before him laid out was a smaller female uniform used by Anbu division. More specifically, Uzuki Yugao's uniform. She had long since told him that he was going to be carrying one of her back up uniforms in case that hers ever got torched, she wouldn't be walking around naked, or in civilian clothes which in her opinion she deemed to be considerably worse than prancing around naked.

Naruto absent mindedly ran a finger over the clothes before he came to the chest area and sweat dropped a little. '_Rei may have to make a tight fit...'_ he thought to himself in a bit of amusement. The crazed guy at the gas station was hitting the nail on the head every time he described Rei. It was just the circumstances that made it so damn unflattering.

Naruto sighed as he removed his hands from the ANBU uniform. '_She'll have to make do.'_ He thought to himself. It was rare for shinobi to have... assets such as Rei. The few that did were often forced to wrap their chests in bandages quite tightly in order for them to not interfere in combat. That or they simply favored long ranged combat such as Yuhi Kurenai, so it didn't matter as much. There was only one Tsunade Senju in the world. And he highly doubted there would ever be another in a long time.

And with that fleeting thought he made his way back to where he had laid Rei down before he scooped her back up into his arms. He smiled lightly at the way she curled up into him. But that fleeting thought passed as he walked her into the bathroom with the now hot running shower.

Naruto frowned as he absent mindedly wondered what he should do with the girl in his arms. Should he wake her, and let her do it herself? Should he just set her in the tub and wash her himself? Should he set her in the tub and wait. Should he undress her and proceed? There were so many questions floating through Naruto's head.

Truth be told entering ANBU at a young age really changed his outlook on things that he felt were rather trivial such as modesty. The ANBU showers were coed. And sometimes after hard missions, some of the members would even partake in their own form of stress relief in the showers. It just really became hard to care after awhile. Entering ANBU is akin to reaching the peak of your shinobi career. Very few move past that position such as Hatake Kakshi, or the Hokage's. It is there that one realizes that they entire body is a tool that can and most likely at some point will be used for killing.

The showers just turned into some awkward form of bonding moment where comrades could go after a mission and relax, not as men and women ogling the fairer sex. But comrades and soldiers relaxing in a rather relaxing environment. It was akin to the hot springs, with the exception of the peeping toms and perverted teenagers during the coed times of year.

However it was through these means that Naruto felt cross as to what to do. He never experienced anything remotely similar to civilian dating, or even standard shinobi dating. ANBU tended to date inside of their branch, as it often allowed the couple to be sure of secure secrecy with one another. And he highly doubted seeing civilians naked was the same as the stress relief situation it was for ANBU.

Naruto frowned intensified. _'Perhaps I should just go for it before the water grows cold...' _he thought to himself.

He moved in closer before aiming the shower directly down the drain before setting her down at the back of the tub. He quickly stripped his shirt so he wouldn't be dealing with having to run around completely wet the next day before he reached up and grabbed the detachable shower handle.

Naruto sighed as he lightly ran the hot water over the girl's feet at first. It wasn't scalding hot by any means, it was simple shower water, and he was sure he could pour it over her head just fine if it weren't for the fact that they had been outside in the cold all night.

Rei seemed to be stirring from her sleep as Naruto silently continued to wash the drying blood of her body, occasionally using his hands to rub off the few dried flecks that had hardened and stuck to the skin.

It was only when he had move the water to Rei's upper body that she realized her dream of relaxing in a hot tub was indeed not real, and she nearly slipped around with a yell of surprise as she saw it was Naruto giving her a bath.

"Ahh! What are you doing!" she all but squealed as she attempted to cover herself before pulling flicking a bit of water in his face.

Naruto was out of his element. He could deal with skilled kunoichi perfectly fine. They had the concept of a body being a tool down just fine. They appreciated respect, and modesty. But they completely understood that being seen naked by a fellow shinobi was not going to be the end of the world. That of course is as long as you are not intentionally trying to perv on them.

Teenage civilians from seemingly other worlds?

Not so much.

"I... ummm... what?" Naruto asked as if he didn't know how to answer the question before he looked at the shower handle, and raised it up allowing a stream of hot water to rise and fall. "I was showering you because you were asleep?" he half said half asked. He had done this for Yugao a few times after a strenuous mission without outbursts and complaints. He didn't really tire out, so it didn't bother him in the slightest.

Rei had gone completely red in the face at the scene playing out before her, almost completely aghast at the fact the young Uzumaki didn't seem to find anything wrong with their situation. "And you don't find anything wrong with that!" she nearly yelled, but controlled her emotional state and remained relatively quiet. She didn't even know _where_ she was _being_ _showered_.

Naruto whom had grown quite adept at hiding his facial expressions over the years only opened and closed his mouth looking her in the eyes for a second curiously. Not entirely sure if she was serious of if she was messing with him. "No... I don't?" Naruto answered slightly unsure of his own answer, but decided to give his most honest one.

Rei's retort died on her tongue as did her anger... partially, "You don't find anything wrong with this?" she questioned, a serious look of her face despite her posture seemingly relaxing.

Naruto shook his head as it seemed the situation had once again calmed down and he gently ran the water over her hair, where most of the blood was located. "I used to do this for another female ninja that was my friend. She was part of my team. And she was often wearing less than you are right now." Naruto explained as if that answered everything.

Rei sighed as the hot water ran over her head and her hair. It seemed like the night was becoming full of circumstances where she normally would have been very angry, but her anger simply died as the weight of the night crashed down on her.

She leaned her head down further between her legs for a moment letting the water wash on her back as she quietly thought over her current situation before sighing once again and sitting back up.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." she said quietly as she looked up and over to Naruto who was crouched down to a knee next to her. "Look away for a second." she said.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, but like a dutiful soldier and unlike a teenage boy, he turned away for the girl. He heard a bit of shifting around in the tub before two wet slapping sounds hit the floor beside him. He looked down without turning around and realized it to be the girl's remaining articles of clothing.

"You can turn around." Rei said tensely, but quickly added on, "But I swear if you are just looking to grope and stare at my tits, Shinobi General or not I will beat you to death with the shower handle you are holding." She finished with a promise as Naruto got to turn around and stare face to face with her intense gaze.

Naruto turned around, and doing his best not to give her an instinctual once over glance at her now new appearance, he handed her the shower handle. She gently took it as he reached back around her for what she could only assume was soap or something.

Rei on the other hand suddenly had it sink in as Naruto raised up his body over her to reach behind her for the soap. The hardened sculpted, but heavily scarred chest in front of her was not something she ever anticipated from a seventeen year old teenager. She knew that Takashi likely didn't have a scar on his body. Hell Takashi didn't even have anywhere near Naruto's body. She honestly doubted anyone she had ever met had a body like that. Even her mother who's level of physical fitness was one she came to accept as one of the best bodies around, even she would probably never compare to one of the shinobi Naruto apparently commanded in his... other world.

It was a bit silly that she had warmed up to the idea so easily. But if anything proved it, the numerous scars the covered his chest alone spoke volumes for his story.

She blushed a bit as she had just complained about the idea of him staring at her, and here she sat doing nothing but ogling him entirely in the few moments that she could get away with. Silently she almost wished that she hadn't told him not to look. It was obvious to her she found the boy attractive, but now she didn't even know if he was even going to look at her now which was frankly disheartening. It is a sad thought in anything when one would put everything out there to be seen, and then only being barely spared a glance. She hoped that wouldn't be the case.

Her ogling stopped as Naruto came back around with soap in hand, and a free hand full of bubbles. "Do you mind holding the shower head?" he asked seriously.

Rei stared and blinked at the blonde, only to stare some more. '_Do I mind holding the shower head?' _She had to fight down the urge to scoff at the idea._ 'I just spent the past thirty seconds ogling you and you ask me about the shower head... Now I really feel guilty about telling him not to look...'_ "Sure..." she said quietly.

It was then that Naruto proceeded to go over her body again with his hands, and Rei couldn't help the heat rising to her face. '_Just who the hell was his lucky teammate?_' She thought to herself with an uncontrolled blush. She probably would have felt bad if she realized how far away the thought of Takashi was from her mind during her current situation.

"So ummm... who was your friend?" Rei asked resisting the urge to jump a bit as he went over her feet with his surprisingly soft hands.

"Uzuki Yugao." he said quietly with a distant smile on his face. "She was my ANBU captain."

Rei gained a weak smile at simply seeing a smile brought to her companion's face. "What is ANBU?" she asked a bit curiously as she got the blonde ninja to further open up to her.

It was a bit obvious from the moment of hesitation as he rubbed her lowers legs that he wasn't sure if he should be answering or not, before he spoke "ANBU is the term our military uses for essentially it's black ops division." he said choosing his words carefully. "There are other more specialized and secret branches of the black ops division such as a traitor branch ROOT, or the Hokage's STEM, but ANBU is the general one." Naruto explained as he resumed rubbing his soapy hands up Rei's legs.

Rei was initially surprised that the blonde before her was in anything that could be considered a black ops program. However that surprise died as she recalled that he became a General and most likely rose through the ranks to get there. She knew vague bits about the versions on her own world as her dad would often talk of their skill sometimes over the dinner table. "When did you join ANBU?"

Naruto frowned a bit at that thought, "I was almost thirteen, I joined shortly after making Chunin."

Rei's head turned so fast she thought she was able to get whiplash, "You joined a black ops division when you were thirteen?" she yelped out in surprise.

Rei knew that Naruto's silent nod was all she was going to get on the subject, as he proceeded to wash up the sides of her body, having finished with her legs.

"Well what can you tell me about Uzuki-san?" Rei asked curiously to keep the boy talking. It was relaxing to just simply talk after a day like this. Even if the subject was so strange and foreign to her.

Naruto gave an amused grin the moment her name was spoken, "She hated formality when not in the presence of a higher rank. It was actually her fault when I came into command of the shinobi armed forces that everyone started calling me by my first name instead of something like _Uzumaki-sama_ or something like that."

Naruto continued washing Rei absent mindedly moving onto her arms.

"She was quite the person, but she was also incredibly strict. She required everyone on her team to be in top shape and ready for action at all times. She even supervised a lot of our personal training. However when she realized that I had a lot of stamina, she kinda just started spending more time with me." Naruto said, not noticing Rei's blush intensifying as her teenage mind ran through the many implications of his stamina and Yugao. However she said nothing.

Naruto took her other arm into his hands and continued to wash her. "Honestly I don't think I'll ever get over the rather ridiculous first impression she made on me. For example on one of our first missions, since I was new to the squad and I joined into the division from a rather low shinobi rank, she took the entire team on a rather simple mission. I was only thirteen, and I was willful and headstrong. Frankly I see a lot of me in you at times." Naruto said with a smile, which was gently returned. "But anyways... after the mission she ended up taking me to the stream and had me wash her down completely."

Rei's eyes bugged at that, "You were thirteen wasn't that irresponsible!" she asked in surprised?

Naruto laughed a bit while he moved to turn the water up higher a bit as the hot water was starting to die, "Yeah a bit. At least in my opinion. A lot of the older generations believed if you were old enough to kill, you were old enough to well... do other stuff." He admitted. "However I personally blame more the company I later found out she was spending time with. She lost her husband during an invasion from two enemy villages. After that she started hanging out with Mitarashi Anko, who is pretty much the queen of irresponsible deeds." Naruto mulled over the situation in his head a bit before shrugging his shoulders lightly, "Besides she understood that I was thirteen and rather inexperienced with the whole sort of deal, so she let me... explore? I was quite shy about it back then. However I enjoyed it." he said as if he was trying to find the right word.

Naruto raised up his wrist and gently wiped his brow where he felt his own little flakes of dried blood staining his hair. He politely grabbed the shower head and washed the flakes away down the drain. Rei however was still flush red at the idea of Naruto _exploring_ a grown woman's body when he was thirteen. However that flush quickly turned into a grimace as he continued.

"The reason is because where I'm from." he said as he lathered his hands once again in soap. "The body of a ninja, male and female alike is considered a weapon. This is stemmed from every limb to every pore of the body. The mind. Sometimes even the eyes of shinobi are considered to be some of the most dangerous weapons. However Yugao wanted to teach me how to avoid temptation of a woman, because in some villages they are specifically trained to use their skills in seduction to kill their targets. Much like how Preying Mantis females kill and eat the males after mating." Rei paled at the implications before she looked up to Naruto in the eyes. She desperately wanted to ask if he had ever encountered a shinobi like that, but she bit her tongue. That probably wasn't the proper thing to ask.

Rei closed her eyes briefly as the water poured over her body before she gazed into Naruto's eyes as she asked a question, "You said the eyes are considered to be some of the most dangerous weapons? What about your eyes?" She asked finally taking the time to look at his eyes up close. It wasn't easy to notice with a fleeting glance as the blonde's eyes simply looked to be a fancy mix between hazel and gray. However upon closer inspection it becomes evident that there were in fact thin rings around his eyes, ripple-like almost as they were branching outward from the center.

Rei suppressed a shiver as Naruto finally moved onto his chest with his hands. However despite that fact, he was simply gently wash over her. She honestly wished he perhaps would have done something, anything. It was like it was a cruel form of teasing to be touched in such a sexual way... yet not.

Naruto smiled down at her, "My eyes were actually a gift from someone. The legend says that my eyes are gifts from god." he said seriously.

Rei gaze broke a bit as she shook her head and suppressed a shiver as a roaming hand went over her nipple, or perhaps it was at his explanation and his hinting that his eyes were in fact transplanted and not his own. She personally figured it was the former, but if questioned she was ready and prepared to deny it and write it off as the later. Before she tried to redeem herself and crack a perfectly normal smile, "Isn't that a bit arrogant though? To say they are a gift from god? Do you really know?" Rei asked almost intimidated of looking back into the eyes that now have that description.

Naruto shrugged his shoulder a bit as he went back to lathering his hands in soap before moving to her stomach. "I don't really know honestly. The legends say that they are a gift from god. Only one other person in history has been documented to have these eyes, and that was The Sage of the Six Paths who is the man that founded the shinobi world. It is said that the one who has the eyes is then blessed with the ability to forever change the world. For better or for worse." Naruto said quietly as he thought over the words to himself as he looked down at his hands.

Rei silently wished she hadn't asked about his eyes. They were beautiful. But with their beauty, the weight of the world seemed to come with them to rest upon his shoulders. It was probably a rather sour talking point.

However her mind stopped that train of thought as she sadly realized that Naruto had indeed not looked down to glance at her body once. She didn't know whether to be impressed for his incredible self control, or disappointed at the fact that her body didn't seem to make it crack in the slightest. "Did you enjoy your times like this with Uzuki-san?" Rei blurted out, she almost felt the urge to hit herself out how silly, childish, and rude she felt at what she was sure was asking about a rather personal moment.

Naruto took a pause having never really put much thought into it after he had grown up a bit. It had become far more routine than anything that was considered a childhood joy. "Yeah, I did." Naruto said honestly as he finally slid his hand down further to her womanhood, the touch nearly making Rei jump at the foreign virgin feeling.

"And what about your time like this with me?" she asked, her cheeks a fiery red as she closed one eye, and squinted with the other. Partially from the foreign pleasure and partially from being afraid of the blonde's possible answer - his possible rejection.

However with her one squinting eye she was able to catch sight of the smile on the blonde's face grow even wider than the mention of his teammate, "Yes, I very much enjoy the time we have shared Rei-chan." he said, the chan suffix bleeding over a bit from his more childhood years when he still had some innocence about him. However it didn't matter because what he said brought a huge blush to Rei's cheeks.

Rei resisted the urge to gasp at the fact that his hand was still down there. Her legs squeeze together in surprise as she pursed her lips upon receiving her answer as some kind of electric fire roar through her making her squeal out in surprise as her vision went white, and act which quickly caused her to cup her hand over her mouth with her eyes wide. She stared at Naruto with wide eyes, her chest heaving up and down, her cheeks a flushed red.

Naruto too was blushing a lively red color as he too realized what he had just done for the girl sitting beside him in the shower, partially forgetting the little bit that his ANBU captain had convinced him to add into his washing routine after quite a bit of insistent when he got more comfortable around her. Oh he knew exactly what he just did unintentionally while his body was on auto pilot.

He gently withdrew his hand suddenly feeling thirteen years old again as he stood up. "Ummm I'm... I'm..." he paused as he looked down before he jabbed a thumb to the door, "I'm going to go get a towel..." he said slowly, his cheeks still red though no where near as red as Rei's.

Rei just gave an embarrassed nod as she tucked her knees in closer to her body, a smile and a blush for the moment stuck on her face.

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Naruto ran a hand through his hand at the thought of what just unfolded, his cheeks having finally calmed down a bit.

It was only moments later that Rei came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a fluffy pink towel. In Naruto's opinion this apartment had to have belonged to a female given the choices in towers. He would have sated his curiosity by simply looking at the clothing available. However it appeared that all of the clothing had been effectively cleared out. Pink fluffy towels aside, whoever formerly lived here had to have lived a rather spartan lifestyle with the overall lack of things in general in the apartment.

"Whats this?" she asked curiously as she saw the clothes laid out on the bed. The scroll having since been tucked away.

"This is one of Yugao's ANBU uniform's. Your clothes from before were well..."

"Ruined." Rei thought dryly having since gotten over the fact, as well as the rather brutal murder Naruto inflicted upon the man, not to say he didn't deserve it. She personally couldn't have cared if he had done worse.

"Well yeah." Naruto deadpanned as he looked towards the uniform. "It is probably going to be a bit of a tight fit." Naruto began as he looked towards a blush slightly returning to his cheeks. "You have umm... bigger assets than she did."

It was Rei's turn for her blush to simply return full force from the bathroom, not trusting her voice she simply nodded at his explanation.

She walked over and proceeded to look over the uniform and her eyes widened slightly as she continued to pick up various articles of clothing. "How do I put this on? There has to be at least ten different pieces here!" She said in a bit of panic.

Naruto flushed a bit at that remembering his first time experiencing having to put on ANBU gear. Going from a jumpsuit to a _12_ piece set of custom fit quality gear was definitely a bit of a change. "I'll help you dress." Naruto said calmly as he moved over the the pile of clothing not looking to Rei's face. However she once again looked as if she were about to faint.

The night had gone from one of terror and emotional stress to one of teenage first world problems over to course of no more than forty minutes.

Naruto however while he didn't see her, could literally feel her embarrassment. He laid out all of the various pieces of clothing on the bed before taking a deep breath and turning to Rei. He clapped his hands together with his eyes closed, fully intent on trying to solve the problem the way his Sensei had solved the problem with his own shyness.

Naruto opened his eyes and quickly handed Rei a rather lacy matching pair of bra and panties. "Sorry..." he muttered silently cursing Yugao's rather naughty taste in under garmets before turning away.

Rei let the towel drop to the floor and slipped into the two articles of clothing.

It wasn't long after Naruto spun around handing her a pair of pants. However before he handed them to her, he quickly spoke. "You are very beautiful." he said with conviction and nod of the head before continuing, "You have nothing to be embarrassed about. You have an amazing body." he said as if almost stating things off a check list before handing the pants off.

Rei still had a blush but was a bit taken aback from the sudden swarm of compliments. "Umm?" she simply sounded hoping for an explanation as she balanced on one leg slipping into her pants.

"You being embarrassed and blushing was making me embarrass and blushing... That shouldn't happen." Naruto said honestly, a rosy tint to his cheeks but otherwise nothing else.

Rei raised her eye suddenly gaining a rather confident but knowing smirk, "Oh really? It was just because I was embarrassed and blushing?" she asked in an incredulous teasing tone.

Naruto quickly spun around and handed her the skin tight top that went under the standard ANBU plate. He only hoped that it would fit Rei as it was skin tight... for Yugao. "Yup." he tried to say it in an acceptable tone, but it got a 'Barely Passing'.

Rei grinned, if he was going to try and convince himself of that, she was perfectly fine with teasing him and showing him otherwise. "Oh, okay. Whatever you say _General_." she said leaning in closely to whisper the last part into his ear similar to how she teased her late boyfriend as she had both arms into the shirt, before she attempted to pull it over her head.

She didn't get to see the light shiver that went down Naruto's spine at that and he shook his head to get rid of his building blush. He grabbed both of the leg guards off of the bed and knelt down to quickly strap them onto her shin's.

_Don't be tempted Naruto. If you find yourself in a position where you cannot escape temptation? Use that temptation against your opponent_

Naruto sighed as he repeated the voice of Uzuki Yugao, his mentor over and over in his head. It was then that he nodded his head and looked up at the girl still trying to fit the shirt effectively over her upper body. Naruto gave a cheeky grin and held on a bit closer to the girl's legs as he face was right as her exposed stomach.

"Do... you... need... help?" he asked, every single word was a hot breath blown across nearly right at the edge of her pants. Naruto actually had the pleasure of getting to see her shiver at that.

"Yes!" She yelped out to get him to stop. "Just pull this damn thing over my head."

Naruto stood up and held her a bit close as he pulled down a bit roughly on the shirt. He didn't want to slam her entire body forward in the process of simply putting the thing on.

The pointed look she had on her face as she crossed her arms under her chest clearly said something along the lines of, _'Haha very funny...'_ However Naruto didn't mind. She started playing, and his mentor's closest friend was Anko Mitarashi. He could certainly play the game if he wanted to. So instead of giving an apology, he merely gave a cheeky grin that would have been out of place if she bothered to recall the face he wore when he cut down the man who attacked her before.

"Thank you general..." she said with an amused smile which made Naruto's grin falter.

"Are you really going to keep calling me that from now on?" he questioned slightly serious.

She merely reached over for the arm guards, "I'll stop when you admit that you were blushing because of me, and not simply because I was blushing." she said with a smile on her face.

Naruto gave a small grin as he nodded his head a bit, fastening the straps of the arm guards she pulled on. He then reached over to the final big piece of the puzzle, the ANBU breastplate.

"Are you sure you?" he said with a questioning gaze to the piece of armor he held on his arm, before outright looking at her chest for the first time.

Rei picked up on the unspoken question and nodded her head. "It was tight to get into, but it is actually quite comfortable and warm once I got into it." Rei answered as she raised her arms up. There was also the unsaid fact that she wanted to wear the full set of armor partially due to the fact that Uzuki-san seemed quite important to him. She didn't want to simply mix and match her specialized gear even if it was a tight fit.

"Yeah..." Naruto mumbled as he gently pulled the breastplate on over her head. "ANBU gear has its issues. Its absurdly tight, and annoying to get on if you aren't used to it. But it has a few special seals woven into the fabric that allow for it to regulate temperature, and stretch to form fit the body. However I still hate putting it on. I frankly started to favor a mesh shirt over it simply to not have to deal with the frustration." Naruto said absentmindedly as he situated the side straps as Rei continued to hold up her arms.

Naruto then turned back to the bed and grabbed the last couple articles of clothing. "Shoes, and gloves." he said as he held them out in each hand. He kinda wished that he had Yugao's mask to see what she would look like as an Anbu. But he wasn't to keen on going into his scroll and taking out his own personal mask. There were a bit too many memories revolving around that mask which he hoped would stay buried.

It was only no more than a minute after that she had gotten on her shinobi sandals and gloves. And Naruto in turn had opted to dig onto his pouch for a unique item he felt was for special occasion.

Rei had since stood up and turned to Naruto with a small smile on her face. She felt strangely good. Sure they weren't her own clothes. And sure part of her was telling herself that she looked a bit weird. However Naruto's comment served to brighten her spirits considerably.

"Wow..." he said with a bit of surprise taking in her full appearance after having actually taken a couple steps back. "You look like a real ninja."

Rei smirked and crossed her arms, "I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that ninjas are actually real." she said in amusement.

Naruto merely smiled in response before extending his hand. In his hand appeared to be a small metal pipe, but a small indent on the side.

"The Third Hokage of my village had a personal summon named Enma, The Monkey King. Enma was an expert staff wielder, and had the ability to even transform himself into a staff harder than diamond. However he was said to be a trickster in combat because he could make his staff shorten or extend on a moments notice. Konoha tried to develop a weapon that followed similar principle. But the idea ended in failure because it wasn't quick enough."

Naruto pressed the tiny indent on the pipe, and it rapidly expanded into six foot long staff.

"So the idea got scrapped, and as what happens with a bunch of random scrapped ideas. They find themselves in the ANBU weapon's locker or the Konoha science division to see if anyone can find some actual use for them. Now while this weapon wasn't practical in high speed shinobi battles. They updated the weapon a bit to shift briefly between staff... and spear." he said as another shift of the pipe forged almost an arrowhead on one end of the long piece of metal.

"It wasn't really useful for shinobi because of the speed of combat, but for these zombies walking around that aren't too quick, I imagine it will work fine." Naruto finished his brief little weapons history weapon. "You can close the weapon and make it retract by holding down this button, and twisting both halves of the weapon 90 degrees in opposite directions." Naruto then proceeded to demonstrate before he offered the weapon over to Rei.

Rei was genuinely surprised at the gift, "Naruto I... thank you." she frowned a bit not entirely good with accepting spontaneous gifts, particularly when she had nothing in return to give. Naruto had helped her above and beyond what was really necessary for him to. The earlier moment they shared in the bathroom was quite evidence of that. Truthfully he could have just left her with that thug. She owed him her life.

The Uzumaki gave a soft smile, seemingly coming off of his emotional high from the moment the two of them shared earlier during the shower. "Come on, we should get going. I honestly would have liked to stay the night here. However everyone on the bus doesn't seem to be stopping." he said as he looked off distantly into the corner of the room.

"Wait a minute? How do you know where they are?" Rei asked in a level of shock and surprise, which was a bit silly for Naruto considering only rather cool and collected people wore the uniform she was wearing.

"Dressed like a ninja. Not a ninja." Naruto teased light wagging his eyebrows to further emphasize it as he made his way out of the room.

Rei didn't bother to hold back a few giggles that were let out from Naruto's comment. Not to mention how out of character she felt his teasing tone was given how she originally pictured the boy... no the man before her. "Come on seriously, how do you know where they are." her voice now quiet and serious. Back to the voice of a person that had been surviving the entire day and night against rabid killers, human and undead.

"It has something to do with chakra, I'll explain it later. In short, all ninjas have it. So practically all ninjas can sense it. However here in this world, no one really has chakra. Ayane however, does have actually quite a respectable amount of latent chakra for some reason. So I can sense Ayane because she has the equivalent to a thousand neon signs pointed at her in a sea of darkness whenever I try and sense chakra." Naruto moved to then slide open the glass door, stepping out onto the balcony.

"Get on my back." Naruto said all business as her took a knee on the ground.

Rei followed Naruto outside only to nearly want to jump back inside. "Why are we on the top story of the building!" She asked in a loud voice, quickly covering her hand afterwards. "Did you carry me all the way up here?" she asked disbelievingly as she looked over to the door, barricade still firmly in place.

Naruto gave a weak grin, "Something like that, but I doubt its what you think. Here get on my back."

Rei gave a sigh, "Why do you want me to get on your back. Are we climbing down? Is this place full of zombies or something?" she asked as she looped her legs around Naruto's prepared arms. She then gently situated herself on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Naruto shrugged as he stood up. "Because I need you to, nope, and I don't know." Naruto responded in quick succession.

It took a moment for Rei to realize as Naruto crouched down. Suddenly she went bug eyed, "Wait what do you mean we aren't climbing down!" She yelled in a panic just before Naruto leaped from that balcony completely across the street onto the roof of a near by building.

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Another chapter posted. Don't know what happened with the last chapter, typically reviews go up with writing as well as hits. However I got a PM from someone saying that the chapter didn't alert them or show up or something like that. Can anyone else confirm if this was true for the last chapter?

Anyways this is a bit of a slower chapter, obviously. It really just takes place in one spot and is just Naruto and Rei. As said above this isn't deciding the pairing, I was actually writing this story before I even felt like I was going to even post it. So I am really just posting prewritten chapters.

This chapter was to give more insight into Naruto's character and past, something which is necessary given how it is a bit of a new Naruto. I also needed to show a bit of how he thinks, simply to really separate him from the idea of some horny teenager that a lot of people like to write Naruto as, particularly in this crossover genre :(...

Another thing I wanted to portray was a bit of insight into Rei, but more particularly that she is not so far hung up on Takashi that she won't notice anyone else.(Another thing that likes to be portrayed for some reason even though her character is rather based on her doing the exact opposite in the past...)

Now onto more future things that I figured I should state now as I continue writing the story. A lot of characters in the series as you have noticed have lived or are present when they otherwise wouldn't have(Shido's group). There are also a lot of characters that have no character or next to no character in the series (Shizuka, Rika, etc). Most of Shido's group I have just decided to give names myself because I don't remember them having any, and if they did... well they weren't important before. I have also changed/added backstory to certain characters(Shido's group, Rika) as I felt fit. For example Rika is still military, she is just not part of SAT as she is in the actual series, she is a different branch. Etc etc etc.

Anyways please review, tell me what you thought of the chapter. How do you like the interaction between the two characters? Do you like how Naruto's character is shaping out? I heard some people say they felt Rei was more likable in this story than in canon, does anyone else feel this way now, or more so? I'd love to hear all that you have to say, anything constructive that can help the story, please do post.


	6. We Keep Marching On

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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"Now I understand why you were bored with the motorcycle. This is amazing." Rei said wide eyed. And the fact that Naruto hadn't gotten tired either during the journey was astounding. He had been running ever since they left the apartment, and the sun had come up since then. And he didn't seem to even acknowledge the fact that she would occasionally ask him to rest for himself so he wouldn't run himself into the ground. The comments he made the previous night about his stamina quickly coming to the forefront of her mind, with a bit of a blush tagged on.

_'In fact the only thing he would do would be occasionally ask what color the little cracks currently were on his bracelet or whatever this thing is...' _Rei thought idly to herself as she enjoyed the breeze rushing through her hair. She would have taken this over the motorcycle any day if she realized it was this pleasant. In fact, that small fact would have changed the entire way the night turned out.

Rei smiled sadly. She wasn't sure if she would change anything about last night. Sure it was stressful, and almost emotionally and mentally breaking. However if it weren't for those circumstances. If she didn't ride that motorcycle to that particular gas station, those chain of events that lead her to spend those moments with Naruto at the apartment likely would have never happened.

And that thought for her was a saddening one.

Rei sighed as she leaned in closer to Naruto's back and rested her head on his shoulder. She really wanted to catch some sleep, but she knew that now really wasn't the time for it. However she wasn't going to give up her rest and relaxation as they moved.

"So..." Rei began with her eyes closed as she said in Naruto's ear. "When we get back to the group, and you going to go back to being Mr. Frowny Face?" Rei teased, a soft smile gracing her lips even though she couldn't see Naruto's reaction.

Naruto while not wanting to relate to his apparent nick name could hold back the frown that had graced his face. Going back to being a _frowny face_? Naruto's frown could only increase at that thought. The truth was that it really isn't his intention to be like that. He had to be a leader. If there isn't a good leader in times of chaos, bad things happen, people get hurt... people die.

His frustration with the world around him he knew truly stemmed from the fact that he was a shinobi stuck in a world that really did not need shinobi to even save it. Even a skilled civilian could do wonders, a feat that was proven quite well by Busujima-san the day he met the young woman.

The constant stalling and safety precautions weren't foreign ideas to Naruto. It was simply that when he actually went through with plans such as those, there was actually something he saw as a threat. However these zombies would really only be a threat to him when he was sleeping. And even then he would be hard pressed to admit even that much.

"Does that bother you?" Naruto asked the girl resting her head on his shoulder, confirming her question.

Rei gave a sad smile, "You don't have to hide from everyone you know? I'm sure you could tell most of the others." Rei said trying to convince the blonde.

Naruto shook his head at that, "If I tell one person in the group, chances are the entire group will find out." Naruto paused as he spared Rei a glance, although she couldn't see it from her position. "And while you may believe me..." he paused at that thought that seemed almost ridiculous to him as it was, "It is doubtful everyone will believe me. And one person causing trouble is all it takes for a group to unravel."

Rei lips tightened at that, and clung on a bit tighter to the blonde. She had been quietly hoping that the blonde opening up to her meant he would open up to others. It seemed that was not going to be the case. "I just hope that you don't stop opening up to me simply because you are around everyone else."

Naruto pursed his lips at that thought. He honestly hadn't really even thought about it, but now that he did... he was actually quite sure he fully intended on putting some distance between himself and frankly everyone else. Before the night, he had honestly only intended to get Ayane to her family, and then he planned on leaving the group to their devices as he went about finding his own way home.

However that sudden concept had become a great deal harder after he thought over the night he most recently shared. He couldn't just up and leave now, not after the bonds he had created here. That and it was obvious that zombies wouldn't be the only dangers for people in this world if that thug from the night before was anything to go by. Naruto shook his head as he washed away his thoughts, "I don't want the others in the group to know that I'm a shinobi." Naruto said slowly with pursed lips.

This didn't surprise Rei a great deal considering what was said earlier even though she wasn't the greatest fan of the idea. She opened her eyes and lifted her head a bit from it's rested position on the blonde's shoulder and asked, "Why?"

Naruto shook his head as he lept across to another building. "Rei... lies and keeping secrets is pretty much my job, its my life. I don't normally open up to people like I did with you. I never even anticipated you to believe me honestly... I sure as hell wouldn't have. Frankly I don't normally open up at all," he said calmly. "Last night was a stressful night for both of us, and by the end of it I felt opening up would do some good. That and it might take your mind off of things."

Rei's eyebrows furrowed at that, "Well just because you don't normally do something doesn't mean you can't start." She said quietly, shifting her body ever slightly on his back. The ride itself was actually quite soft, she really barely shifted. However the shinobi clothing was taking some getting used to. It squeezed in places she frankly was just not expecting to be squeezed by clothing.

Naruto shook his head once again as he leaped down into the street. His feet coming in heavy contact with a zombie as it was tackled to the ground, it's head crushing on the pavement. All of this before Naruto simply jumped up again onto a near by roof top across from the former one. "And just because I can start doesn't mean I want to." Naruto responded.

Rei rolled her eyes at that. She _knew_ that Naruto was more than capable of making these gaps. However every so often he would jump into the street to kill a zombie. She didn't know why, perhaps he was slightly bored with the constant traveling. Rei frankly just found the whole idea ridiculous at how utterly safe the blonde felt about doing that to those walking dead. It is as if he had no fear of them what so ever. "Well you never know." Rei began as she snuggled her head further into his shoulder and neck. "You may surprise yourself." She mumbled.

Naruto's didn't respond, but his lips formed into a thin line as he simply thought, '_Doubt it...'_

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"Rei, we're here." Naruto said as he made touch down on the ground next to the bus he had tracked Ayane to. He frankly doubted anyone in all of the chaos was really even going to notice him falling briefly from the sky and landing around them. Chaos, hardship, and stress end up making people see things that sometimes aren't really there. Yet at the same time causing them to ignore the reality of the situation around them.

Rei opened her eyes from her comfortable relaxation and got off of Naruto's back. Although the process was fairly comical in Naruto's eyes.

It was the same affect as having been sitting down for too long, with the circulation of blood slightly cut off from certain areas of the body. Then upon standing up too quickly, you were filled with that momentarily dizzy sensation.

Naruto almost wanted to laugh when Rei in her confidence took her first step on her own after a few hours and nearly tripped over her own feet as she stumbled but found her balance on the edge of the car. However Naruto quickly squashed that feeling, and replaced his humor with the face of a shinobi leader. The moment he got back on the bus, there would be no time for games.

Rei shot her head in Naruto's direction and gave him a glare, "Shu-" Rei's retort died on her lips. It was like staring at a completely different person the way he stared at her with a blank face and a penetrating gaze. No longer the blonde that she had just spent hours alone with in an almost intimate fashion. This was the leader the blonde said he needed to be. Rei wasn't quite sure she liked it... Rei simply opted for straightening herself out as she stood up straight, this time on stable legs. She nodded to Naruto, motioning him to continue on, and that was what he did.

The duo moved around the back of the bus in the traffic leisurely onto the side of the doors in a calm and collected form. The inside of the bus however was anything but... they could hear the fanatical preaching from outside.

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"Exactly!" Mr. Shido continued his preaching to the student of Fujima High. "That's why we should secure a safe place first, and then we make moves together! A unit! A team! Companions! Making random moves on an individual basis will cause our inevitable downfall!" He continued, waving his hands in the air dramatically. Clutching his hand over his heart as if his words weighed very deeply on his soul.

A light knocking on the side bus door was heard by the few close knit group at the front of the bus. The blonde hair doctor, and designated driver turned to her side to see what the noise spawned from. She clumsy doctor nearly fell out of her chair in surprise.

"Miyamoto-san!" she exclaimed to herself, catching the attention of everyone at the front of the bus. However despite her exclamation, the preacher at the back of the bus apparently didn't notice.

"Rei!" Takashi exclaimed as he bolted up from his sitting position, and stood by the entrance.

The doctor fiddled around looking at the various parts used to operate the bus, and she figured out how to open the door. She accidentally hit the horn and the windshield wipers much to other's amusement before she was finally able to get the door's open.

"For example, we should wait until we're ready to act as a disciplined group. In order to confirm the safety of our family members, I think that's the most important thing we need to think about. Right now, the framework of our unit is the most important thing that will attribute to our success. Do you understand?" Shido asked the students he could tell were listening attentively near the back of the bus.

Ever since the doors had been open, Naruto had been listening carefully to every word. Truthfully, if he hadn't seen the man's earlier stunt in the parking lot, he may have accepted him as a decent leader. He was a bit weird, but he had some level of charisma to the way he spoke. And he had a general idea of what he was talking about. He honestly doubted that everyone would listen to him. But if hadn't pulled the stunt he did in the parking lot with Saito-san, things may have been a lot different.

"Rei!" Takashi exclaimed as he embraced Rei tightly before she even made her way up the steps. "Are you okay?" he asked almost in disbelief at simply how _okay_ she actually looked.

Others near by actually paying attention to the two smiled at the little reunion they were having. Although they were also quite curious as to just what the hell the girl was wearing.

Rei smiled lightly in her childhood friend and crush's embrace. "I'm fine, just a bit tired. It was a long night," she said slowly.

Takashi detached himself and gave her a mixed look between worry, and just happiness at the fact that she was alive. "Rei, tell me everything." he said quietly as he grabbed her by the arm, and practically dragged her to sit down in a pair of seats near _their_ group in the bus.

Naruto smiled weakly as he watched the scene unfold before him. However it was then that he realized that within the next few minutes, a lot was going to be put on the line in regards to the time both he and Rei spent together last night.

Would she respect his wishes, and not speak of his shinobi background. Would she lie to her childhood friend for his sake? Or in turn would she tell the truth, and compromise the trust Naruto had put in her.

Naruto frowned a bit at that. Truthfully there was no wrong answer, just as there wasn't really a right answer either. Both actions had their own consequences if either party found out. It really just came down to Rei and what she was willing to give up.

Naruto did know one thing though. If she breathed a word about it, his trust in her would all but vanish. As would any fond thoughts of the time they spent together.

Naruto shook his head and made his way up the steps, blood from the night before still staining his hair, body, and clothes.

"We shouldn't forget out pride as students of Fujima High." The former teacher spoke proudly. "Uzumaki and Miyamoto-san, both who left the bus... They are unfit to be with you guys!"

Naruto clenched his fist at that. Was this happening the entire time he had been gone? Naruto drew a kunai into his hand, an action that was caught by everyone else at the front of the bus. The truth of the matter was though that this to him was a serious offense. Trying to undermine his authority after being decided as leader. That was something he couldn't have happen on _his team_. The team that decided he should lead.

Frankly? He had killed people for less.

"Oh really?" Naruto called out loudly through the bus, not bothering to respond to the light greetings he received from the few people at the front of the bus, and even some surprise glances but nods of acknowledgment from people at the back of the bus. It even was a bit painful to have to ignore Ayane's suddenly lit up eyes as she moved to stand up for her own personal reunion. Although Naruto knew he simply had more pressing matters to attend to at the moment.

Shido spun around, mouth slightly ajar for the moment. It wasn't long after that that the former teacher turned preacher went pale in the face. The man was looking at Naruto like he had seen a ghost, and a such was quite speechless.

"Unfit to be with you guys..." Naruto repeated as he tilted the sharpened kunai in his hand and looked over it with an intimidating gaze. "Where did that come from?" Naruto asked to anyone as he looked up from his blade.

The bus had turned completely silent and cold during the exchange. Rei in particular was now extra wary now knowing a great deal more about Naruto than anyone else present. Although truth be told she could really care less if Naruto ended Shido. It would probably just be best to not do it in front of everyone else.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "And who are you to decide that... _Shido-san_?" Naruto asked, his tone becoming one that caused the man to freeze in place and remain deathly still. "You remember what I told you? I will lead... You will follow." Silence reigned throughout the bus as everyone bared witness to the intense stare off between the two men fighting for leadership.

Naruto grimaced briefly as a thought that it was wrong to use shinobi techniques on civilians flooded through his mind. However he crushed that thought quickly as he released his oppressive shinobi killer intent upon a group of civilians.

Everyone present, no exceptions stilled instantly as an ominous presence loomed over the room. The very air became thick as the gravity of the world seemed to weigh down on them. Many students fell back and collapsed into their seats, while others leaned forward needing to support themselves with their arms.

The constricting feeling that collapsed upon every area of their body and began to squeeze at their lungs was suffocating.

"Undermine my authority again." Naruto spoke down to the now fallen teacher, "And I will see to it that you can never attempt to again." And it was just like that. The constricting and suffocating presence of a season shinobi's killer intent vanished. It was as if the blood had returned to the brains of everyone on board, and the light headed feeling they had was quickly fading.

But still, Naruto knew they would never forget the feeling of being under a seasoned shinobi's gaze. He never forgot his first encounter with Orochimaru. Sasuke had even revealed to him, much to his displeasure, that he was about to kill himself with a kunai just to escape the man's presence.

Naruto frowned. He hoped it wouldn't come to that for the people on the bus. He gave a careful glance around though just in case.

Naruto shook his head lightly and turned at the front of the bus before reaching down for the medical bag, and making his way over to Ayane. Everyone else should probably be fine. However the young platinum blonde that had anxiety problems? It would be best to double check.

Naruto knelt down beside the girl, half expecting her to be borderline frozen once again. However he was pleasantly surprised when he realized that the younger Sinjah had taken his killing intent just like every other passenger on board the bus...

Like a frightened bunny backing away from a hungry tiger.

Ayane quickly wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck as he knelt down right beside her. This reunion also brought a smile to many faces despite the fact that some were still recovering from their former terror. Although, Rei on the other hand seated directly behind Naruto did adopt a pointed look of frustration.

Rei grimaced from a couple rows of seats away, she shouldn't be jealous or frustrated at the fact. She had just spent the entire night out with Naruto. It was by no means a special date or a standard night out, but it was time spent together none the less.

She told herself that she knew it wasn't right to get jealous over a simple hug. However she knew she was a jealous person. Despite being with Hisashi, she still didn't like seeing Komuro even talking to other girls.

And it was at that point she suddenly flushed in embarrassment, and realized that Takashi had been talking. Suddenly a wave of guilt washed over her. She had borderline tormented Takashi for the fact that she had ended up with Hisashi, and not him. She was bitter, and angry, and honestly acting childish. It was certainly not her proudest moment. Particularly because she knew that Takashi indeed cared. He just wasn't the best with expressing his feelings... and well that is what Rei had wanted. She had just wanted more.

So when Hisashi, a proclaimed black belt had registered into the spear martial arts club, and became her partner, friend, and just someone to talk to. She had found _more_ with him.

Still the idea of wanting something more weighed heavily on her mind. It was a simple idea, and a basic one. It was an ideal really that many girls her age had. Wanting a boy to be there for them that is strong and interesting but also caring and not afraid to express his feelings. It was a rare quality. And the guilt washed over her when she realized that she was jealous of Ayane gaining attention from Naruto when Naruto was frankly by all accounts nothing she had actually wanted.

Sure he was open with her, and he is undoubtedly strong. However so was Takashi. Albeit, Takashi was considerably weaker than Naruto, but she knew it wasn't exactly fair to compare him to a Ninja General.

The truth was that they both fell short in the way that they could express themselves. Honestly Naruto was even worse than Takashi in that regard. Even if Naruto ever did choose to open up to her, she didn't even know if she could ever really believe him. After all, his words continued to repeat through her head.

_"Rei... lies and keeping secrets is pretty much my job, its my life."_

How could one trust a person's word? How could any shinobi trust each other and follow orders when they all lived a life like that?

Rei pursed her lips and shook away her thought as she tried to grasp the gist of what Takashi was asking, before she thrust herself forcefully back into the discussion. She couldn't afford to be thinking on that train of thought. Particularly in a world that has changed so much.

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Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose. They had been in this _traffic_ as they called it for hours, and had made little if any progress. This was evidence by the fact that Doctor Marikawa had the time to fall asleep using the steering wheel as a cushion. Yet despite her complete and utter inability to pay attention to the shifting traffic, they hadn't actually had to move.

It was for that reason Naruto was fed up. He didn't get tired physically. He simply wasn't capable of it. Tiring him out physically would require him to sprint from Konoha to Suna without water. That would tire him out. Killing pawns for a few hours? Not so much.

It wasn't the physical exhaustion that had gotten to him. It was the mental exhaustion. The reason he had stepped up to the plate of being a leader for the civilians in the bus around him was more than just him not wanting Shido to be a leader.

People don't understand what it is to be a leader. However he did. He learned through blood, sweat and tears of both himself and his enemies what it meant to be a leader.

_A leader bares all for his team_

_A leader carries not only his burdens, but the burdens of his companions as his own_

_A leader places the safety of others above himself_

_A leader keeps the peace and loyalty of those around him_

Naruto rubbed his temples as he thought to himself. It was a bit disturbing really, the qualities of a leader he had learned. In truth, the qualities of a leader grew to be disturbingly similar to the qualities Orochimaru had expected from his own unique brand of genetically modified shinobi.

It may be for that very reason that he found Shido so disturbing. Because the man had reminded him of the Snake Sannin. He would never forget the words that had been elegantly written in a personal journal as he raided one of Orochimaru's many labs in order to shut the program down.

_They shall be my finest warriors, these men who give themselves unto me. Like clay I shall mould them and in the furnace of war forge them. They will be iron of will and steely muscle. In great armour I shall clad them, and with the mightiest of weapons I will arm them. They will be untouched by poison or illusions, no genjutsu will blight them. They will have tactics, strategies and machines so that no shinobi can best them. They are my shield against terror, my sword against my foes. They are my defenders. They are my finest creations, and they shall know no fear._

Naruto looked down with an unreadable expresssion. The shinobi world was never black and white, it was filled with a bunch of gray. While Orochimaru's crazed writings may have been something of amusement to many. The man was by all accounts a genius. A genius that had his pride stripped from him.

During his invasion of Konoha, he was completely and utterly destroyed. Even with two former Hokages on his side, he stood no chance against the next and brighter generations with the Sandaime, Jiraiya, and Enma fighting alongside each other.

Jiraiya found a way to permanently seal off the Snake Sannin's chakra. A ability that transcended flesh and blood, but actually scarred the spirit. A seal that tainted the soul. Even Orochimaru's repeated reincarnation couldn't save him if he were able to utilize it.

It was publicly said that the Snake Sannin had escaped. However Naruto having joined ANBU shortly after the invasion knew the truth. They had let the man walk, forced to live in the now decaying body as it broke down from the inside, unable to escape. His mind deteriorating as he walked the Elemental Nations with his pride completely stripped from him. Not to mention he was trapped in a woman's body for the rest of his life. Naruto could definitely see him going insane with his projects, quietly plotting his revenge in isolation.

Naruto shook his head free of thoughts of the past that frankly didn't matter anymore. What mattered now was the weight that had been dropped on his shoulders by the people he had taken under his wing. In the shinobi world, taking other shinobi under his wing it wasn't nearly as stressful. All shinobi are expected to die some point in combat. It just comes down to being careful to prolong the period before that date with death comes.

Civilians on the other hand. They live every day of their lives often ignorant of war, only subtly feeling the effects of it. On rare occasion do they witness it first hand like in an invasion. Naruto felt the civilian ways of life, but also their ignorance was only more potent in the world he found himself in. A world at a form of world peace with one another?

Civilians would live their lives every day, often sacrificing their own health in order to achieve fortune and wealth to be well off. Only then as they grow older they are forced to sacrifice the wealth they gained in order to preserve or fix their health. So in short they end up wasting their entire lives away, away from war. They live every day as if they are never going to die. And they proceed to die having never truly ever lived.

It was sad honestly. Naruto almost wished more than just the concept of dating and sexual relationships at a young age had bled over into civilian culture. It might have even helped his childhood a bit if people's outlooks on life had changed a bit.

Naruto grimaced at the thought of a better life, and how things may have turned out differently. However despite the negative thoughts coursing through him, he stood up on unwavering legs as he briefly looked over everyone in the bus.

"Everyone!" Naruto called out allowing his voice to carry across the bus as all conversation quickly stopped. No one really wanted to experience whatever had happened earlier when they had been under the blonde's gaze. "I have decided we are going to try and find a place to stay for the night. This bus simply isn't moving, and the sun will be setting soon. We will be moving now since it will be safer than being overrun in the dark."

The tall muscular teen with two hair colors launched up at that, "Feh!" he spat out a scowl gracing his features, "I'm not going anywhere with Komuro!" he yelled out.

Naruto rolled his eyes at that as he moved down the bus to the entrance, "Don't care! Stay here if you want to!" He yelled back in response. "On your feet, lets go!" Naruto ordered loudly as he caused the bus' doors to open before stepping off of the vehicle.

Everyone on the bus seemed to be throwing around a few questioning gazes at the abrupt decision from the blonde. However surprisingly for the divided bus, Rei was the first and quickest person to stand up and follow the blonde without question.

"Rei?" Takashi asked almost surprised at his childhood friend blindly following a person that at least he had no clue about. Rei had told him details of their time traveling together, but it still surprised him that she would be so willing to trust him with something as serious as this. Particularly with those _things_ walking around.

A frown graced his face as he realized that Rei likely had a great deal more experience than him... than anyone else with dealing with them except for the blonde outside. While they had spent the night resting comfortably in a warm and safe bus, they had spent their night running and riding around on the streets of the city.

Sinjah Ayane and Kaji Saito both shortly followed, for different reasons however both had significant trust and respect for the blonde outside. The later being more intent on just not staying on the bus with a certain former teacher.

It was then that while Naruto and Rei had been absent, the boy that had gained the trust and respect of the half of the bus stood. Komuro Takashi made his way off the bus.

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"So where are we going, _General?" _Rei teased lightly as she stepped off the bus, being close enough to whisper the last part of the question.

Naruto smiled lightly at the teasing as he turned over his shoulder for a moment to check and see if anyone else near by had overheard the spear wielder. However it seemed Rei had checked herself beforehand as the coast was indeed clear.

"Don't know." Naruto admitted honestly. "But we can't stay here. While some of these cars may be vacant, most of these engines are still on, and some of them are making quite a bit of noise." Naruto shot a pointed look to the muffler of one of the cars that appeared to be diagnosed with a smoker's cough.

Rei stepped up beside the blonde to see what he was looking at as she gently adjusted a few places in the uniform she was wearing. It fit, and it was warm, she was comfortable with that. However she had honestly never worn anything so form fitting in her life. "You don't even have a plan?" she asked with a frown.

Naruto shrugged as he whipped out the map from his back pocket before unfolding part of it. "We can't stay here for the night, so there isn't much point into waiting around for it to get dark before we move." he replied as he glanced over the map. "So most people live on the other side of the river right?" Naruto asked out loud mainly just seeking clarification.

"It depends really. In recent years over seventy-seven percent of the students have been shown to live in the residential areas on the other side of the river. However that may not mean that everyone in our group is from the other side of the river." called out a male voice as he made his way down the steps.

Naruto turned around to the virtually unfamiliar voice before he raised an eyebrow seeing none other than Kaji Saito following Ayane down the steps.

"I see you also seem to have my map?" the teen asked a small smirk spreading onto his face. "I hope it was of some use?"

Naruto gave an amused grin in return as he fanned the map a couple times in the air, "Hope you don't mind." he said back to the new comer.

Saito held his hands up and wave them in front of him, "No worries. It was just a class project that I ended up turning into a bit of hobby of mine."

"A hobby?" Rei asked curiously. "We didn't get that project, what year are you?"

Saito gave a grin, "Technically?" he began proudly, "I'm a sophomore, but I've been taking a few college classes for geography and a couple computer tech classes."

Rei looked a bit surprised at that fact, while Naruto and Ayane both didn't bother to give acknowledgment to the fact.

Ayane frowned to herself before saying, "If we don't know where to go, I believe Shizuka-san has an apartment or something not far from here." this little fun fact did gather a bit of scrutiny from those around her.

"Why do you know where Shizuka-sensei lives?" Rei asked in surprise. Shido had properly soiled her idea of developing any form of friendship with the teachers around her. Although she had always found Doctor Marikawa to be quite pleasant to be around, partially due to the fact that she was so young yet still an authority figure. Still despite how close she had gotten to the bubbly nurse, there was no way she would ever anticipate knowing that much about her.

"I was in an accident when I was younger with my father and developed a rather severe case of anxiety." she said, none too proud at that fact. "My mother called Marikawa-san in hopes to personally meet the school doctor that she would be giving my meds to. I think when Doctor Marikawa had invited us over, my mother assumed that it would be to either the school or her own house. However I think she was house sitting or something. Still the place was nice and would be worth a shot."

Naruto spoke up before everyone else, "The real important part would be if it could realistically house all of us for any unspecified time longer than a few days. We have no idea what could happen in the near future with this thing. For all we know this may just the first bits of a blight on the people. For all we know this sickness could quickly mutate into something more dangerous, and I would want a safe place for everyone if that was the case. Regardless of how divide things may be, I am expected to be the leader, and I would prefer that we all rest in a place somewhere close to each other."

Naruto ran a hand through his hair as he handed the map back to Saito, "If we lack the room in one residence, I would want a safe place that could be effectively defended that would connect to another near by residence."

"What would be an ideal place Naruto-san?" was the voice of the new arrival, Takashi as he stepped off the bus.

Naruto snorted at that question. "Ideal? An expansive tree house in the middle of a large forest with fruit in the trees. The ground being soft enough to dig a good seven foot trench around our camp site with a collapsible bridge. Then finally a small stream that we could irrigate through the area. _That_ would be ideal." Naruto snorted once again at the thought. "But not realistic." he added on at the end.

He almost felt bad for being a rather big asshole right there. However he needed more ideas and suggestions, and less speculation.

The response Takashi received only caused him to frown and move off to the side by Rei in order to not block the bus' exit.

"Come on everyone! Off the bus!" Naruto yelled again his patience growing thin as time went on with him standing there.

Shizuka, in Naruto's gaze perked up quite a deal at that. Whether it was from Naruto's yell, or merely because she was under his gaze was quick to stand. She grabbed her medical bag before almost skipping down the steps, an act which promptly caused a lot of shifting on the bus afterwards.

After all in times like this, they want to be with the pretty nurse.

"Shizuka-san, Ayane-chan tells me you have a house, or a friends house not far from here? We are looking for places on this side of the river for us to rest for the night and get a good nights sleep. No offense to you all, but you all appear to be dead on your feet." Naruto commented as he looked around at everyone before turning back to Shizuka. He wasn't really going to tell everyone that he was starting to feel a bit tired himself, although that was for different reasons.

"Oh me?" Shizuka asked in her rather aloof personality before tapping a finger to her mouth in thought. "Well Rika-chan's place is close I suppose... but it would be a long walk." she said as she rubbed her chin in thought as if contemplating the meaning of life.

Naruto nodded before turning to Kohta, Saeko, and Saya who were all filing out of the bus in a neat fashion. Those three were shortly followed by the tall teen with multiple hair colors. Naruto was about to be rather annoyed at just the sight of the boy. Naruto's opinion of him was severely lacking from the few interactions he had seen the teen take in. Although he was pleasantly surprised when he spoke.

"My house isn't far from here either, it probably isn't the safest place, but if we are desperate I suppose it may be better than breaking into a place blindly. My dad also enjoyed hunting, so his shed probably has some things that may be of use." he said begrudingly as he crossed his arms over his chest giving a pointed glare over the position where Takashi and Rei stood.

Naruto gave his own pointed stare toward the newcomer, "And whats your name angry teenager?" Naruto asked dryly remembering all of his past meetings with the young male.

He didn't seem to take to kindly too the nickname, but none the less responded, "Call me Jin." He said, his lips forming into a thin line, clearly not wanting to give his full name, but at the same time not wanting to start a fight with the blonde.

Naruto was almost annoyed at the kid not giving him his full name. He nearly decided to give the boy a name that he felt would be personally fitting. From the nickname that was simply 'Colors' to a spectrum of more colorful language. "Whatever, we will start heading to Shizuka-san's first, and if your place is on the way, we can make the stop." Naruto said with a roll of the eyes watching the final people file out of the bus.

He knew he was being a bit judgmental of the teen. Frankly getting some weapons into the civilians hands would be far more useful than simply having a place to stay, even if the place was slightly dangerous. But as far as he could see, the boy had been so absorbed in Shido's propoganda, he wouldn't trust the teen for a second.

A slow dry moaning sound was picked up by Naruto's trained ears as the last couple of students, plus Shido were getting off the bus. The zombie that was slowly going to make it's presence known from walking out from behind the bus only served to settle Naruto's conscience about his decision. It was obvious this place wouldn't be safe for the night if there were already things walking around on which was essentially the designated safety route.

"Alright lets go!" He called out as he spun a kunai out of his tool bag before throwing it dead on piercing the now appeared zombie's eye before the other students could react. He was a man on a mission, fully intent to get the students to safety by nightfall, and he was a shinobi that never failed his missions.

Naruto spared a glance at the dead zombie before he proceeded to lead the slightly frantic students away as stood behind for a moment as he was the last one to step off of the bus.

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Naruto rub his shoulders lightly as he lead his group along the side of the river in ranks of three. For some reason Shido had apparently adopted the silly idea of his students that he protected not needing weapons in their situation. So as far as Naruto was concerned, for nearly all intents and purposes they were useless. The only exception he actually found in the group Shido had brought would be in Saito, and 'Jin'.

Naruto would admit that those were the only two he had attempted to talk to. But still, considering that Saito was a student that Shido had attempted to kill off only moments before learning of the man, Naruto wasn't quite happy.

The main reason for this was in all honesty, as far as Naruto could tell at present moment, Saito was by far the most useful civilian of the entire group. Albeit, he wasn't his favorite. He had a bit of a cocky pompous personality to him. However his knowledge was invaluable.

He led the front of the group with Shizuka walking along the sidewalk near the river, and Naruto was walking in the middle of the road, occasionally walking around abandoned cars. Saito was the last member at the front of the pack, standing beside Shizuka on the sidewalk.

Saito had his map in hand, although it was folded up and he wasn't even looking at it. The boy had seemingly memorized his map that he made for his class project turned hobby. He knew of all upcoming stores, and if they should have even made a one or two block detour for any other valuable stores.

To be fair, there weren't any. However the fact that Saito had the knowledge of everything from woman's clothing store to a family owned coffee shop, to even distant automobile repairs was impressive. To further prove the point as if he had read their blonde leader's mind he called out, "In a couple blocks we will be passing by a Sevenson," which was their version of a local convience store.

"It's fine, Marikawa-san said that where we are going, there is a store just like it near by." Naruto replied as if he was merely listing off of a fact sheet. He had gone over his plan quite thoroughly in his head.

Naruto turn behind him briefly as he moved around an abandoned car to look at the ranks, and listed them as the roles they filled to him and less so their names.

Skipping the front rank he began,

Big hearted teen, Shido girl 1, Shido girl 2

Brown haired friend, Platinum blonde obligation, Shido girl 3, Pink haired book smarts

Short ranged support, Shido boy 1, Shido boy 2

Purple haired Samurai, Shido, Angry teen

Naruto nodded slowly to himself at the ranks he had assigned. He had no doubt in his mind that Saeko could handle herself in the back against any zombies, or even against the people she was guarding if she so required. It was just something about the look that she got in her eyes during a fight that knew she out of all of the students was the most combat ready.

Kohta, Naruto had to admit was impressive in his own right. The accuracy he showed with the tiny nail gun was quite incredible. Naruto knew they even had nail guns in his own time, but he had never anticipated anyone using it in that form of fashion. If they wouldn't have been so inefficient with the amount of nails, he was sure that there would be some warriors that used them on the field for the rapid fire projectiles.

However as it stood, all Naruto could do was appreciate the Tenten like accuracy as he marched on.

He didn't even need to go over row three. It was his most important row for multiple reasons. However for Naruto, it was just most important because he felt it was the row he needed to protect the most for personal reasons. It was as simply as that for him.

Takashi remained close to Naruto, as Naruto felt that he was still in that heavily annoying position to place in any sort of defensive formation. Could he defend himself? Certainly. Did he have any form, could he do so reliably? Naruto had no idea.

However as long as Naruto opted to take care of the zombies in front of him, the second rank in formation shouldn't have any problems.

"Oh Naruto-kun!" the doctor cried out, "Don't call me Marikawa-san, it makes me feel old." the female whined. On most circumstances Naruto may have found it annoying. However it was refreshing to hear a woman whine about being feeling old rather than deciding to beat it into him when the women were in fact old. That and her pesonality in general was quite the huge contrast to everyone else who was rather tense with the situation.

"Okay Shizuka-chan." Naruto commented, a small smile tugging at his lips as he continued on walking, once again in near silence. It was rare that he ever had he opportunity to use such a suffix on anyone in the times he found himself stuck in back home. It was rather refreshing that he actually got to have a bit of time to relax in what he felt was a considerably safer world.

There were a few small conversations happening, such as Takashi, and Rei whispering back and forth between each other. Most of the pairs from Shido's group that were next to each other were also lost in their own small conversations. However it wasn't that big of a deal, they would be reaching their destination soon as far as Naruto could tell.

"How much further?" He asked the two people in the first row beside him. Shizuka had appeared to instantly get lost in thought as if thinking of her answer, however Saito simply gave one.

"Eh... a couple minutes or so, supposing we don't run into a sea of _them_ or something." he said a bit disdainfully. He obviously wasn't a fan of the new world as he knew it.

Naruto smirked a bit at the boy's knowledge. He was almost tempted to keep shooting off random questions about the area. However he settled for looking to Shizuka's nod for clarification.

Naruto looked behind him once again to the taller students bringing up the back of the pack with a frown as his gaze rested on Shido. The man had plenty of time to preach about him during the night he had been gone with Rei. He had no idea how much credibility, if any he held as a leader of the group.

"When you were in the school Saito, what was your time with Shido like?" Naruto whispered at the front. Only the first row and Takashi who in turn walked a bit closer to Naruto's heels when he heard the question were paying attention. The two girls walking beside Takashi seemed to be lost in their own world with their conversation, with mild blushes on their faces.

Saito's face instantly twisted into an annoyed scowl at the mere mention of the man at the back. "I thought it wasn't that bad honestly." he looked like he had just had to swallow a pile of dog shit as he said those words.

"He wasn't a bad leader, the man sure liked his speeches though, often at terrible times. You would think he was some sort of former military with all the bravado." Saito said as he kept his eyes forward.

That fact surprised Naruto a bit, but he choose to listen, hoping the teen would say more.

"We didn't fight our way out of the school like most people did. The guy is pretty smart really..." Saito admitted slowly, a pile of salt in his mouth with every word. "Physical Education for all classes that day was outside. apparently came upon Jin, and a couple others before he ran by most of us. He had ushered us all inside of the Gym and we locked ourselves in there for quite awhile. We even picked up a couple others that ended up pounding on the Gym doors."

Saito paused politely as Naruto and Takashi had to walk around a car in their way. "However it eventually came to the point that all of the Gym's exits were blocked. Shido gave some speech about preserving the health of our generation, before revealing the vents that he decided to push a ladder to." Saito then grimaced, "We all climbed into the vents, under Shido's guidance. The vents lead to a hollowed out area between the ceiling and the next floor where lights and cable wiring could be. However Shido was one of the last people into the vents. Our last guy didn't make it." Saito's grimace turned into a scowl as he continued.

"The doors to the gym had been busted down, and Shido simply claimed that the ladder fell behind him, leaving our last guy still climbing to die. We all believed his speech about how gravely sad he was at losing a student he vowed to protect. But given what he did to me, and looking back? I really doubt that. He was a controlling manipulative ass to be honest. He even was able to talk the group majority into not collecting weapons due to how they were still our fellow students, and we needed to retain our humanity. Blah blah blah." Saito shook his head looking down.

"We lost three other guys during out escape, I would have been the fourth if not..." Saito spared Naruto a glance, "Well thank you for that."

Naruto shrugged, "No problem, continue." no one deserved to die like that.

"Yes, well... bottom line I really doubt the man cares. I think he just wants to be in control. In fact, honestly? I've seen the way he looks at the girls in the group that follow him." Saito started to whisper as he neared the end of his comment, forcing Takashi to not so subtly lean in closer. "I doubt the fact that the three people we lost, and that myself were all men in the group. It would not surprise me in the slightest that if you hadn't become the leader, he would have tried to lead the rest of the guys to their deaths."

Naruto gave an amused scoff at that, an act that he realized he probably shouldn't have done. However the civilians simply didn't realize why he had found that thought so entirely funny. If he even had the slightest feeling that Shido was actively trying to get him killed? He would just kill the teacher himself. "Yeah, well I wont be letting that happen." Naruto said.

Saito nodded momentarily before stopping and looking back, "This seems like the place you described Shizuka-sensei?"

Sure enough not even a moment later, a surprised cry from Kohta alerted everyone to that fact. "A Hum-Vee! It's the military model too!" he said, having stopped his march, his hands and eyes twitching in shock.

"Oh my!" Shizuka said shaking her head and her hands on her cheeks, "I was so wrapped up in the story, I forgot that I..." she drifted off a bit at that, much to Naruto's amusement. The woman's personality was something that he could appreciate on one hand. It was laid back and aloof, and rather funny to watch. However he hoped that this wasn't all there was to the woman, because her personality could lead to the deaths of comrades if she could never be attentive and serious under pressure.

They got there okay, so no harm done. He only hoped she didn't drift off like that when doing anything medical.

The group broke formation as everyone else from the band stopped. Shizuka walked up and put on hand on Kohta's shoulder, but he didn't even appear to notice. "Told you. It looks like a tank right?" she said with a smile.

Naruto figured they must have discussed the vehicle a bit while he was absent with Rei. Although he had no idea what a tank was. It had to be some kind of vehicle, because he knew there was no way the blonde was going to be comparing this obvious vehicle to something like the big water tanks found at the top of the Konoha hospital.

"Just who is your friend?" Saya said a bit dryly rubbing her hand on her chin.

However instead of examining the vehicle, Naruto took it upon himself to examine everyone else as they gawked at their destination. There was some gawking, some talking, some looking. But what surprised Naruto the most was at the back of the pack, there was _scouting_.

Naruto observed Jin from a distance. The teen wasn't just simply looking around. The teen was looking from house to house, or more specifically balcony to balcony in the area. It was only after that when he proceeded to look at the various areas of ground cover, and the few gated fence walls in the area. The action surprised Naruto a great deal. While he didn't like the kid, perhaps he had written him off too soon. And maybe even perhaps he had written up Saito as the most valuable member off the group too soon. Jin may have some of his father's hunter instincts in him.

"Alright someone should lead a team to go clear the house, a small team. Then come out and signal us when the coast is clear. Anyone willing?" Naruto asked. He was not in the least bit surprised as Takashi stepped up to the plate with his golden bloody bat ready. He was soon flanked by Saeko, and Kohta armed with his nail gun. Rei looked like she was about ready to go, however as she clutched the tiny pipe in her hand and then looked around, she seemed to back down.

_'She probably doesn't want to explain the weapon I gave her...'_ Naruto thought to himself with a small momentary frown.

"One more." Naruto said casting his gaze over the group.

The shorter haired lanky boy, part of Shido's group stepped up. Or perhaps he was forced up to the plate. Naruto had no clue how far the former teacher's reach had effected all of his former students. However he spoke in a quiet voice, he obviously didn't have much confidence. "I don't have a weapon..." he said quietly.

Naruto frowned, he didn't want to give the boy a kunai. The chances of him finding any more ninja tools in the world he was in was well... slim. All he had were the ones in his tool bag, and a couple extra sets in a scroll. And considering a "Set" of kunai as far as ANBU was concerned was just top of the line chakra conducting skillfully forged steel that came in boxes of five... he was running low.

Oh the days where going to the local blacksmitch could get you a bundle of thirty kunai for the same price, even if they weren't made as good. However as shinobi became stronger, in most cases tools became less prevelant and shinobi relied more on a single tool and their skills. More so like the seven shinobi swordsman, less so like the rapping eight tails and his numerous blades, or Tenten '_the weapons expert._' Naruto shook his head at the last part. Weapons simply wont carry a person to the height of the shinobi career unless your weapons were special. Like Kumo's five legendary artifacts taken by the gold and silver brothers. Or Itachi's couple relics from the sage. Or if someone like that Suigetsu kid was capable of obtaining all of the Seven Shinobi Swordsman's swords.

However his problem was solved as Saya reached into the bag she had been carrying around with her, and thankfully pulled out a crowbar.

Naruto nodded to the assembled group, "Alright Takashi, you want to be in charge?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow. The kid was nearly fearless, he might as well give the boy a chance.

Takashi gave a confident nod towards Naruto as he opened the gate.

"Alright, then go!" Naruto called out as he looked up the stairs to gathering zombies. One had decided to stumble down the stairs at the call of his voice, and busted it's head against the pavement...

Takashi gave it a whack for good measure.

Naruto gave a sigh as he looked up to the group and prayed for the best. He doubted the situation should be too dangerous. But realistically, anything could happen in combat. There were just things one could simply not account for.

Like A-ranked Missing Ninjas being assigned as assassins for a target of a low C-ranked escort mission.

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Alright, another day, another chapter.

Anyways if anyone is super super into the Highschool of the Dead series, you will notice that I changed the name of the tall teen with dyed hair. Frankly I doubt any on you however will notice it because I don't think his name is actually ever mentioned in the series. It is only mentioned in rather obscure data books, that I myself just found out about yesterday.

So Naruto has met up with the group once again, and is back in his leader mode. He will eventually loosen up a bit, but I don't know when I plan to do that. If I do it too soon, I just feel it wouldn't do his character justice.

Rei is a bit more present in dialog and thoughts now as you have seen. Another reason for this is she is the only one that has any idea of how Naruto really is, so she is the only one that can judgmentally look at him. So just because Rei is more prevalent doesn't mean that the pairing is NarutoxRei or anything like that. This story is more character driven.

As you have noticed? I haven't really shown much zombie combat. Why? Because zombies are easy to kill. You will see action later on in the story for sure, but the early parts here are simply character driven.

So here you get some insight into Saito, Ayane, and even a bit into Jin. All of which are essentially OCs as far as the series is concerned. So I am trying to ease them into the story.

So anyways yeah the ways I have to really showcase story telling while at the same time building character aren't really as numerous as other stories because Naruto simply isn't that talkative. He has his focus on other things such as getting home, keeping people safe and healthy, keeping the group united. He ends up keeping to himself. So Rei is going to be a bit of a story telling device as well as Naruto's pov for probably a chapter more, maybe two.

Also I forgot to mention a couple chapters ago, but whoever said "Someone has been playing Mass Effect 2." You would certainly be correct!

It is actually a bit of how I am trying to go about the story telling as well as the development. It is more so Naruto's effect on people in a new world.

I also toyed around with some Warhammer 40k if anyone noticed that. Kudos to you.

So anyways I hope you read and review the story. I loved the reviews that I have been getting for the story.

**There are a lot of characters in this story already. I already asked about Rei. However I didn't ask about other characters. In this chapter you see a bit more of the OCs. How do you feel about them thus far? What are your favorite characters in the actual series? Why?**

Just things I would like to know and analyze as a writer as I continue writing the story. See you all around.


	7. You Can Rest When You're Dead

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead

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Kozeki Ryo, that was the boy's name. That was the name of the nervous unprepared boy who died that night when he had to go against the fourteen zombies that were on the upper level of the yard. And it was for this reason as Naruto stood there, finally stacking up the fourteenth headless body in a wall across the street that there was silence amongst the group gathered around.

Not everyone showed up, and Naruto wouldn't have forced them to. And it was for this reason that he only mentioned the death of their comrade, and not what he was going to do with the body. If they had cared, they would have asked.

That was why it was only him... and Korumo standing outside that night.

"I don't understand... what did I do wrong? I told him to be careful. I told him that there were two zombies on his left. He even had Saeko at his side. I... I don't..." his question froze on his tongue as he witnessed Naruto cutting off the head of the former Kozeki Ryo, before laying him out amongst the other countless bodies.

"Don't blame yourself." Naruto said as he looked down knowing full and well what Takashi was feeling right now. "It wasn't your fault."

Takashi shook his head, his eyes downcast, "How can you say that? You weren't there Naruto. You made me the leader, I should have..."

"What?" Naruto asked as he shrugged his shoulders, "There is nothing that can prepare you for what happened. You assumed he would be fine, and he should have been."

"But he wasn't..." Takashi said sourly.

Naruto frowned for a minute weighing the odds of telling Takashi of his past life, before crushing that idea with a lie. "If you keep blaming yourself for what happened, it will eat you up alive. I've been in your shoes right now before." Naruto said seriously as he tossed the head of the deceased Ryo into a pile at the end of the wall.

Takashi looked up at that, unsure of whether he was curious, or he wanted an excuse to not blame himself. '_Probably both...'_ he reasoned.

Naruto put on his poker face as he looked down at the bodies with distant eyes. "Me and some close friends of mine took a trip about a year ago over seas to hunt a particular kind of shark."

Naruto neglected to mention that the said shark was probably one of the top five most dangerous Missing Ninja in shinobi history.

"We had gotten in hot pursuit of the shark, and frankly we had everything right where we wanted it."

Naruto shook his head as he recalled the moment they had caught the man. All defensive measures in place, his mind was secured by Ino Yamanaka, his body restrained by Shikamaru Nara, Chouji had his hand wrapped tightly around him. Naruto had even had a seal on the ground designed to keep things that stepped inside the circle on the ground there until the drawn seal was broken. The catch was that the captured target couldn't attempt to break the seal himself due to unique neural responses that go through the body suggesting against it. However all of that didn't matter. Naruto hadn't even anticipated the depths to which the Missing Ninja. A ninja that was forever marked as a traitor, someone whom couldn't stay loyal to their home! No one ever anticipated the man to activate a jutsu that literally ate himself alive in moments.

It was too fast. It was too fast for anyone.

"However in the last moment, things went horribly wrong. One of my friends went overboard, and was killed from the combined efforts of the shark puncturing a lung, and drowning my friend. Another had lost a few of his fingers in an attempted rescue. The shark died in the struggle, but it was not without our own losses."

Naruto's lips formed a thin line. Kisame had died that day. However Ino's consciousness drifted aimlessly in the world, her body left in a coma. Chouji had lost his thumb and index finger to Kisame's suicide. Shikamaru retired from being a shinobi after that, opting to simply look after Kurenai and her child. He would only on rare occasion provide tactical advice to the Joint Shinobi War Effort when demanded of it.

"It took me awhile to get over it. However I had to come to realize that in life one takes risks, and without taking these risks one doesn't ever truly live. I blamed myself for a long time before I realized that it simply wasn't my fault. There are things that you just can't account on happening. If you live your life trying to prepare yourself for everything, you wont make it out the front door." Naruto said quietly before lifting his head and backing up.

"Anyways I'm going to head in, and see about getting a shower. I haven't gotten to wash up since..." Naruto's lips thinned, a couple days before even getting to this world. He was on a battlefield. "Too long." he said simply to his own amusement. The blood and guts from numerous zombies looked like they were part of a food fight he had taken part in. But the most important part probably was the fact that his body and hair had simply been drenched in blood from the night with Rei and the thug. Rei was by all means drenched too. However Naruto hadn't taken a shower that night. Naruto's hair was turning brown from the dried blood.

"Ahh Naruto-san." Takashi spun, the first signs of positive life in the boy since they had been outside. Although he was sporting a blush, "I believe most of the girls were going to try and get washed up."

Naruto eyed him for a moment owlishly. _'It wasn't a problem when I was with Rei was it?'_ he thought to himself slowly before shrugging as walking up the stairs without a further response than, "Don't die outside. You can rest when you're dead."

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The women of the group chatted excitedly amongst themselves as they ushered themselves into the bathroom. The small group was simply half of the girls in the house, the ones that had traveled with Takashi, Kohta, and Naruto. The other three girls from Shido's group opted to hopefully take a shower later on if they stayed there for longer. Otherwise since they hadn't seen any action, they let the 'Leader's' group have first dibs. They still had their clothes on, but the thought of a hot bubble bath in that big tub was simply too big of a dream come true. Not to mention the fact that they could likely relax all night in there.

It was heaven.

It truly needed to be repeated once for emphasis.

It was heaven!

However almost more importantly than the fact it was time for the girls to relax in a nice bath? It was time away from "the boys" for them to talk and even gossip a bit and just have fun.

And the first topic for the night?

"So Miyamoto-san... what is with your new attire?" Saya observed the long desired but unanswered question. "It is almost exactly the same as what Naruto wears."

Saeko seemed to perk up as she began undressing herself, and despite her usually calm and collected demeanor couldn't contain her curiosity. The blonde was virtually an enigma that no one really knew all that much about. Yet they conceded to let the boy lead them. Any information about him as far as Saeko was concerned was more than welcome. "I was also wondering about such a thing." she said in her polite even tone.

Rei flushed a bit at being under scrutiny from the girls around her, "Err... umm its a long story." She tried to write it off. She didn't exactly want to broadcast her near rape experience followed by her naked bath time with Naruto.

Saya looked suspicious and appeared to be ready to say something, but Shizuka-sensei, tactful as always beat her to the punch.

"Rei-chan!" Shizuka said loudly as she all but jumped the shorter girl, "Did you..." she then used her fingers in emphasis... almost like a train going through a tunnel...

"Shizuka-sensei!" Rei squealed out while undressing, nearly tripping over her own two feet as she tried to remove her pants, her face turning brightly red.

Saya looked rather triumphant at that, while Saeko looked up in surprised wide eyes as if they all gained their answer.

Even Ayane whom had been completely quiet off to the side as usual was actually quite surprised, but at the same time she seemed to be almost put off at the thought.

"So that means Takashi is free then." Saya said quietly to herself as she hit her hand into her palm. Although her "Quiet" simply wasn't quiet enough when the girls were hanging off every word of the gossip going on around them.

Saeko giggled a bit, "Oh and Takagi-san, you like Komuro-kun?" she teased in a tone one would use for teasing a younger sibling.

Saya's face adopted the form of a violent T-rex as she nearly yelled out, "I don't like Komuro-kun!" she yelled, but the tomato color on her face told an entirely different story.

Saya shifted her gaze back to Rei, fully intent of focusing any and all attention off of her. She was the genius. She was the observer. She was not the observed. Only when she was doing something intelligent, not like... admiring some boy!

Rei had even been through the process of pulling her tight shirt over her head, and Takagi had noticed something that would have gotten past the others present. "You even have a new bra Miyamoto-san... Did you do something at Uzumaki-san's home or something?" still on the track of the two doing the deed. "And borrowed clothing from his parents or something?"

Rei's blush went tenfold as she stripped the last of her clothing, and rushed into the tub, while the others slowly undressed, looking at her. "No, we didn't do anything _like that_!" The way she ended her sentence was an utter failure as her voice implied that had indeed done something.

Shizuka spoke up, "It is fine, I believe you Miyamoto-san. You wouldn't steal Naruto-kun's innocense like that."

Rei had no nearly hold half her face underwater in order to resist blushing at the comment, the utterly and completely ridiculous notion that Naruto was innocent. Innocent in any way shape or form. He was only two years older than her, and there was nothing innocent about him.

Shizuka only continued, "And Naruto-kun is covered in blood, I really doubt that they would do anything like that... _unless..._"

"No! No! No! No! No!" Rei chanted over and over again, shaking and promptly hiding herself in a mountain of freshly formed bubbles. There was no way she wanted to see anyone go down Shizuka-sensei's demented train of thought.

Saya saved the day with, "No, that doesn't prove anything. Miyamoto-san is cleaner than all of us, yet she was out there an entire night nearly on her own. Then she shows up in new clothes like Naruto's spotless." She explained her observations before trying to hit the nail in the coffin with, "And we have all seen how Uzumaki-san fights, he may have done all of the killing from that point on, and just got blood on him before they got back." Saya announced as all of the girls decided to start the bath by packing rather tightly into the tub, and playing around with the shower heads near the ceiling to aim the torrents on the tub. Although it was an act that utterly killed the bubbles. But it was fun. "You sure you are still wanting to be with Takashi?" Saya taunted lightly half hoping for the response she desired.

Rei had no response to that other than firmly denying, "I didn't have sex with Naruto-kun!" She proclaimed in annoyance. "And yes I still like Takashi!" she gasped out in frustration, her heart clutching a bit at admitting such a fact. She probably would have been embarrassed under other circumstances. Yet telling even the slightest bit of truth while having to hold her tongue from saying lies at every turn was refreshing. However the reality was that in comparison to how she used to feel about the boy? She barely felt that brief butterfly sensation at the thought.

It was then that the platinum blonde Ayane spoke up, and filled the room with a whole new level of tension as she said, "Really?" a bit bitterly. "Then please explain why you have hand prints on your waist and on your tits." She finished dryly in a mood none too pleased, feeling that Rei was trying to play the group for a fool.

It was then that every female's attention suddenly drifted to Rei's body, making the said female feel very uncomfortable.

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XXXXXXX

Naruto sighed as he walked into what he would grow to call home for hopefully the next couple of days. It was only then that he heard the grunts of a person upstairs like they were trying to carry something extremely heavy.

Curiosity got the best of Naruto as he went about half way up the stairs to get a peak, only to see none other than Kohta and the very same crowbar that formerly laid in the hands of Ryo being used to try and pry open a large container.

"There a problem Kohta?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow, trying to figure out what he was doing. It was only as he got closer did he see the other side of the locker had a very impressive bow with a quiver of arrows right beside it.

"Oi Naruto-san, want to take this as a chance to peak?" as he absent mindedly crouched down and tried to readjust the placement of the crowbar.

Naruto had to admit that of his "crew" Hirano Kohta was certainly one of his favorites. Quite the apparent genius with weapons of this world, while still retaining the humorous hormone driven mentality of an average teenage boy. "I was actually going to step in and try and take a shower before I came to see what you were doing."

"What?" Kohta asked in wide eyed surprise. He quickly stood up and gave a salute as he said, "I will be sure to bury your body and decorate you with numerous honors Uzumaki-san." as the impressive salute turned into an even more impressive _teary_ _eyed salute_.

Naruto shook his head in amusement at that, but was a bit more focused on not smelling like the dead they were killing. He had already opted for stripping off his shirt on his way in from outside. "Kohta." Naruto said simply with a nod to the locker silently asking for an explanation from the distractable teen.

Kohta regained his composure, although he knew he would soon be saying goodbye to a dead friend. He sniffed a bit and rubbed his eyes. "I found ammunition for guns when I was looking around for stuff that could be useful. And well... when there is ammo, there is guns." he said confidently as he gave a heavy abrupt pull on the locker, which only served to land him flat on his ass and shake the lockers.

Naruto laughed at that before nodding his head, "Alright." He gently grabbed the locker and then with one harsh tug of his arm, with his ironclad shinobi grip, he opened the locker quite effortlessly with his enhanced strength.

Hirano sat there wide eyed for a second as the locker slowly swung open, before he adjusted his glasses. "I loosened it for you!" he said quickly, trying to regain some of his lost pride as a man.

Although that thought clearly died as he caught sight of his the guns in the recently opened locker. He proceeded to dance around the room like a kid that had asked for a single action figure for Christmas and had gained the full set.

Naruto smiled at his excitement. It was nice to see someone so happy at their situation given the recent understandable downer it was being outside with Takashi. It probably would have been the equivalent of opening the locker and finding it empty for Hirano.

"Kohta, where are Shido's people?" Naruto calmly asked.

In his own world, Kohta dismissively waved, "Downstairs. Sound proof movie room. Very fancy..." he droned before he burst out, "That's an Ithaca M37 Riot Shotgun!" as he grabbed the first weapon he put his hands on.

Naruto shook his head, and left without a word, he knew what he wanted to do. Hirano would go on to do... Hirano things.

Naruto made his way to the bathroom, passing Takashi on the way with a nod of acknowledgment. He reached into the closet and quickly wrapped a purple towel around his waste as he stripped the rest of his clothes. He looked down and decided to grab a bucket and sponge that was located on the bottom shelf in the closet on the off chance that there weren't actual showers in the bathroom. It wouldn't be the first time.

And it was just as Ayane had finished her comment did Naruto decide to make his presence know.

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XXXXXXX

Naruto stepped through the unlocked door. Or perhaps it was locked, he had honestly forgotten given a rather instinctual act he had developed over time. Too often were there simple doors during the war that were armed with certain explosives that reacted, not upon turning the door knob, but simply upon touching the door knob. It was mainstream to account for ninja reflexes. Then various seals would be used to key the correct people into the room. All of this so Assassins wouldn't have simply entryway access to the room.

However this technological annoyance completely and utterly died when Naruto obtained the Rinnegan, and found a way to bypass the said system with chakra manipulation, something he taught his own shinobi infiltration units. Although the act often tended to bust the lock.

Bottom line as far as trap explosives went. If they took a shinobi the amount of time to open a door to trigger, and for them to sense the slightest bit of chakra igniting an explosive? It took too long to be of use, unless the explosion was across the entire building... at which point the trap would be more detrimental than good.

Closing the door behind him, stepped into the bathroom without a care in the world. All eyes turned to the teen with browning hair, wrapped in a purple towel, covered in blood, caring a blue bucket with a orange sponge.

After most of the girls got over the momentary ridiculous, they all burst out and covered themselves. All of them but Rei at least, whose mind was elsewhere and was considerably more comfortable around Naruto's presence in her current state.

Naruto on the other hand raised an eyebrow at the scene before him. The room was thick with steam, and all of the girls were crowded in a single tub that was simply not made for 5 people to try in relax in without someone sitting on another's lap. They had two separate shower heads streaming down a haze of water into the tub of the girls frantically wishing they still had bubbles.

So Naruto said the first thing he could think of, "This seems to be a good use of the hot water." he said dryly as he stepped forward and ran his hand under the stream, that was surprisingly still hot. For how long on the other hand? He didn't know.

It was then that the girls seemed to regain control of their mouths. Although all of their attitudes were vastly different.

"What the hell Naruto!" yelled the pink haired girl which reminded him quite vividly of his childhood. "Get the hell out of here you pervert!"

Naruto looked taken aback at the comment, "I'm not a pervert, I came in to use the shower." he replied honestly, slightly offended at the pink haired girl's insult.

"Uzumaki-san please leave and respect our privacy, we are all women in here!" Saeko pleaded as she made her greatest attempt to cover herself, a great contrast to usual cold, proud, and collected self.

Shizuka appeared to be taking the whole matter in stride and seemingly perfectly comfortable in the younger man's presence as she giggled a bit, "Naruto-kun you pervert." she repeated Saya's earlier comment. Although her's was considerably more playful.

Naruto's frown increased as he looked over the two remaining girls. Ayane was quiet and had a distant look as usual as she simply had a hand over her chest and stared at Naruto expectantly. Although there was a bit of hurt in her eyes. From what, Naruto could not place. Not that he was caring too much about that in his current situation.

Naruto finally gazed at Rei as he just stood there waiting for an answer. This act seemed to catch the attention of the others the looked between the two, before Saya quite tactfully in her embarrassment decided to blurt out quite rudely.

"Here he is for round two. Not even covering herself..." Saya said in bitter annoyance, as she tried her best to cover herself up in the tub using her knees and arms as a shield. Although she didn't realize how badly her words cut as Rei flinched.

Naruto did a double take at what the pink haired girl said, before allowing a retort to form. However just as it was about to roll off his tongue, Rei stepped out of the bath and simply walked over to her towel and clothes, tying the towel around herself before exiting without a word.

Naruto could only look between the tub, and the doorway clearly believing he missed something.

"Well aren't you going to go screw your new girlfriend in your fairytale fantasy?" Saya spat out. "Just tell her to stop playing Komuro, he deserves better than a girl he can never have." She finished through clenched teeth, memories of her own crush constantly in a bad mood for the past year due to Rei's decision to date someone else. That pretty much summed up how she felt at that very moment. The idea that Takashi was still going around depressed about Rei when she has gone through not _one_ but _two_ different men in front of his face? That thought was insulting.

Suddenly recognition dawned on Naruto's face before his features hardened. "You think we are a couple?" Naruto said slowly.

Cracks formed in the girl's formerly unwavering resolve at his confused glance. _Of course she was right? She was almost never wrong. She was great at reading people._ "Of course you are, we saw the hand prints you left all over her."

Naruto's expression went from hardened to immediately sour as he realized what happened. He looked over all of the ladies in the tub, "And you all immediately thought..." Naruto frowned as looks from puzzled to surprise appeared on all of the female's faces. Naruto shook his head at the teenagers.

"It is times like these I wish Kakashi had given his speech to civilian children..." he said to himself, although the others overheard it.

"What do you mean civilian children?" Saya questioned quickly suddenly the answers she was sure she had in stone felt like they were more so simply in wet cement.

"Anyone in on this is an ignorant fool." Naruto said harshly as he ignored her question and stepped forward with his bucket in hand, and leaned over to dunk it in the hot water. "When me and Rei were out alone in the city, we had been riding a motorcycle and needed to stop for gas. We had no money so I went in for the register while Rei waited by the bike." Naruto said with a scowl as he scooped up a bucket of water.

"A thug had come out when I was in the shop and attempted to rape Rei on the spot, holding her hostage with a knife. He cut off her clothes, and grabbed her hard so she couldn't struggle while he groped her." Naruto took a step back as he looked down on the females in the tub, particularly Saya.

"I killed him with his own knife, and we were covered in blood." Naruto stretched out his arms to motion at himself for emphasis. "Rei was emotionally exhausted, so I took her to an apartment to wash her up and give her a change of clothes before we got back on the road to catch up to all of you while you sat and slept comfortably in a bus." Naruto finished bitterly. "Still a fairytale fantasy?" He asked coldly not too keen on the pink haired girl's opinions.

Naruto shook his head as he took a step back to resist from hitting the girl. An act that was rather standard from the Elemental Nations where he had to lead all forms of shinobi. Some emotionally and mentally in check. Others... not so much. Still regardless of his past as a leader, one rule of when he was simply an Anbu team member bled through.

_You don't harm civilians._

It was a rule that had been forever engraved into Naruto's mind from a child. A ninja, a soldier fights to protect the people. A village is nothing without the people inside it. The people are the heart of a Shinobi Village.

However disciplinary action from squad commander to subordinate was an entirely different story. However in most cases they would simply opt to take it out on the subordinate in a more subtle fashion such as full contact sparring.

Other than that the silly civilian ideas that were passed around the world such as "Men should never hit a women" were frankly ridiculous. If that were the case, they should have just had Tsunade man the front lines as an untouchable wrecking ball to eighty percent of the shinobi population.

So the gray area Naruto found himself in with having civilian subordinates was not a pleasant place to be, especially when they were in his opinion, this blindly ignorant.

"Jump the conclusions again, and don't think before you speak? I will drop you on the side of the road as you do more harm than good to team morale." Naruto spoke out suddenly in a commanding tone as he looked down at Saya treating her as any other person he would have under his command. It was utterly ridiculous to see their 'Leader' giving a pep talk in a purple towel. But Naruto could give a damn where his talks were given as long as the point was made clear. "Think before you act. That goes for any of you. The only thing that separates _us_ in here, from _them _out there is our working brain function. If you aren't going to use your brain, then I will let you join the rest of your _friends_ outside. Understood?" he asked coldly to everyone in the tub.

The water had seemed to chill for everyone in the tub as they let those words sink in. Words that they probably would have opposed if it weren't for the fact of how royally they felt they had messed up earlier.

Naruto was happy that it appeared that he got the message across, and he turned to make his exit, bucket in hand. He was now going to find a place to wash, as he was not in the mood to do it there in the present company.

However first... he would find his brown haired friend.

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XXXXXXX

Thwak!

Thwak!

Scratch!

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he stepped out into the back of the house only to see Rei making attack after attack at a metal post in the back yard.

"Should probably stop that before you lead them all here."

Clang!

Rei spun around an upset glare on her face, "This is all your fault!"

Naruto didn't care he snorted. That thought was ridiculous. Her flinch only showed him that she knew it was a ridiculous notion as well. "Yeah and the sky is falling." Naruto said dryly with a roll of the eyes as he stepped outside into the chilly night in a towel. Although for him he didn't really get cold.

"It's not funny!" She cried out, "This is your fault..." she said quietly as she looked down in her hands as the gift she had received from the blonde.

"Would you have preferred to have been raped and strung along as that guy's sex slave for the rest of your days?" Rei flinched quite violently at that thought, and suddenly covered herself up a bit more than the form fitting ANBU shirt she had slung over her body before simply going out in her underwear.

"No..." she replied pursing her lips. She was just taking it out on Naruto, venting. She knew that much. It wasn't fair to either of them. However Naruto had just made it quite evident that he was not the kind of person that dealt with that well. "Its just..."

"You should have just told the truth." Naruto cut in with a frown on his face. Despite the lies that revolved around him and his profession. He longed for a time where things were simply black and white like when he was taking the chunin exams. There were no crazy lies that he had to hold on to or craft. He just called it like it was, that was that. He would just call things whether they were right or wrong, and made sure people would never forget them. It made life easy.

"I couldn't..." Rei said quietly, "I like Takashi, but I lied to him in order to keep your secrets." Rei said quietly as the spear in her hand grew more slack.

Naruto's rather insensitive attitude quickly changed on that note as he sat down with the bucket in front of him. "I'm sorry." Naruto spoke slowly suddenly realizing that her dillema was partially his fault. Now he was actually quite glad that she hadn't chosen to strictly tell the truth. It was almost always easier to tell the truth for one's self. It was far harder to rat out a friend.

Naruto sighed as he dunk hit hand into the cooling water , pushing past the spounge before muttering one of the many jutsu learned with the Rinnegan as he superheated his limb and cause the water to rapidly heat. While doing to he was constantly mindful of the shackle on his wrist. He didn't exactly know what the contraption did. But anything that reacted to his chakra, and could send him to different worlds as far as he was concerned was not something to be tampered with. He was quite comfortable staying safe in the meantime until he figured out how to remove it.

Naruto then decided to give the obligatory comment of, "I told the girls the about what happened. Well most of it... I didn't describe the shower... or the end of it..." Naruto started mumbling off at the end absentmindedly, a light blush appearing on his face.

Rei however didn't have the same reaction as a large blush appeared on her face. She turned to Naruto only to see him reaching into the bucket for a sponge.

"No soap?" Rei mused as she looked over to the blonde, the shadow of the night hiding her blush.

Naruto shrugged, "I left after giving them a pep talk about using their brains. And honestly it slipped my mind... I just want to get the blood off. I was in combat for two days before I even arrived here." Naruto said being mindful of the door behind him to make sure no one was standing there.

Rei had learned to best keep her surprise to a minimum when it regarded the world traveling ninja before her, so she merely shook her head. "I can help you inside if you want?" Rei offered as she rubbed her own arms.

Naruto tried to read the body language, but he couldn't guess whether she was being shy... or just cold. But none the less he nodded his head, "Alright..." he said curiously before he followed the already standing Rei inside.

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Naruto sighed as he stepped into the laundry room between the kitchen and the back door that lead outside. Rei had walked right past the laundry room and Naruto quickly heard a bit of chatting, which surprised him because of the voice. Or at least it was an attempt at chatting.

Naruto stepped into the kitchen only to get a full view of Saeko dressed in nothing but a skimpy black thong and a cooking apron. Saeko had done her best to get Rei to stop for a moment to give an apology, but Rei only decided to brush past the swordswoman.

"Interesting choice in clothing..." Naruto said with a grin tugging at his lips as he stepped into the kitchen. Saeko spun around quickly at realizing it was not just her and Rei in the kitchen. So a large majority of it was her simply spinning to only be showing her backside to a girl, rather than a certain blonde who already had a fair share of her body to look at.

Saeko was suddenly quite self conscious. She already had an encounter with Takashi moments before about her choice of temporary clothing. Naruto on the other hand was a completely different story.

Saeko knew as she grew up that there were two different types of men in the world, and as the world was now it only grew to be more evident. When she had first met the group that had turned into her traveling companions. She would admit that she really thought the blonde to be nothing special. He carried unique weapons, but that thought fell on deaf ears as she thought back to all of them resting in the school with Takashi and Kohta building a barricade. All while this was happening, Naruto simply sat back and was too absorbed in his own world, and the girl beside him to truly help.

She had known from the beginning that Hirano-kun and Komuro-kun were two different sides of the same coin. Komuro-kun was going to be what she thought as the unlikely leader of their group. Despite her father teaching her the way of the sword, he didn't neglect that a woman is still supposed to take care of the men in her life that take responsibility for her. So when Komuro-kun had arrived on the scene with a girl practically on his arm, and had quite instantly garnered Saya's attention which only came with Hirano's shortly after. To her it was obvious who would rise up as the leader, and it was not going to be the blonde. Takashi was by all means the unexpected Alpha Male of their group, or so she thought.

It was this thought that brought her to Hirano-kun. Where Takashi-kun hadn't ever anticipated such a role being dropped on him. It was a role that Hirano-kun desired. He didn't particularly care if he lead the group or not. However he wanted to be seen as an equal in their group. Although the young boy had proven to go above and beyond the call of duty in that regard with his nail gun. She could only imagine what he may be able to do with actual weapons if he were to find any.

Yet these two young teens suddenly paled in comparison to the blonde that was by all purposes still an enigma to the rest of the group except perhaps Rei who may have learned a bit about him during their journey together. Where Hirano-kun desired to be dropped into the category of an Alpha male, and Takashi didn't really even understand the position he was in? Saeko could tell from just looking at the blonde that _he knew, he just knew._

He knew his position in the group. The fact that he had asserted himself as leader of the group without actually knowing anyone from the group except for Sinjah-san was proof of that. He always carried himself in a calm and collected manner. His combat capabilities while not having been heavily showcased or flashy like her own were deadly. He could wade his way through a sea of zombies with a lone dagger, and show no fear.

Saeko flushed a brighter red at that thought. _Showing no fear..._

It was an ideal that her father had passed down onto her. It was said that ancient Samurai warriors knew no fear and loyally served their leaders until death, and that their honor demanded it. However she doubted that her father meant was showing gutsy ballsy fearless suicidal tendencies in the face of mortal danger such as walking into a group of twelve or so zombies, and push one into the wall to simply prove a point. That crossed the line between showing no fear and taking needless risks.

Saeko shook her head, she still just couldn't believe how Naruto acted. How commanding he was. It was almost like he was like a Samurai leader that her father had told her about. However that was impossible, Samurai don't exist.

She was brought back to reality as Naruto had simply raised an eyebrow at her red faced silence. He was getting ready to just follow after Rei, and leave the purple haired girl alone. However Saeko quickly blurted out.

"I know, I'm sorry. My clothes are in the dryer. I know, this is too revealing!" she said quickly in her embarrassment realizing she had just stood there for a few seconds in utter silence in front of the blonde before she even responded.

Naruto cast her a scrutinizing gaze as her eyes roamed her entire body. Saeko felt any heat that had formerly left return to her cheeks full force at Naruto's words. "I don't see anything wrong with what you are wearing."

No dirty smirk. No excessive licking or drooling. Just the shinobi's judging gaze was left on Saeko's form. At first Saeko wanted to try and convince herself that Naruto was gay or something. But that idea quickly died as her rational part of her brain came into play. She knew he wasn't gay. She saw interest under his scrutinizing gaze, but it was quickly crushed by a mountain of refined self control. Another fact that only served to make her feel like a _woman_ under his gaze.

She didn't have many men pursue her in school given her intimidating reputation, and tournament winning kendo status. Most boys didn't want to date a girl that was likely stronger than them.

However Naruto, he didn't care. He looked at her, saw her as a warrior and as a woman, but wasn't intimidated in the slightest. Even with her wooden blade in hand, she could see in combat when she looked at anyone that there were hints of fear in their eyes. She enjoyed fighting, she loved it. It was something in those eyes that couldn't simply be replicated, and for that fact they served to scare anyone she laid eyes upon in combat. The simple thought that they could be next to be struck down by her wooden blade? It was not a comforting one.

Yet the blonde Uzumaki... he wasn't phased in the least. In fact if she was honest with herself. When she gazed into his eyes in combat, that look sent chills down her own spine. She was afraid of him, although she would never admit it. A Samurai is supposed to show no fear. She came from the Busujima family, she would not show her fear. However just because she didn't show it didn't mean it wasn't there.

Her father told her that there was a saying that warriors don't sense opponents on a lower level or a lower plane of skill than them. It was in the same way that human beings don't sense ants unless they actively searched for them. They oppose no threat, and as such there is no reason to be worried about them. It was for that reason when the blonde would look at her in combat... no look wasn't even the right word.

He _spared_ _her_. He only _spared her_ a glance in combat. That thought made her stomach get filled with feeling that was unknown to her. Although if she were completely honest... it wasn't an unpleasant one.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, before shrugging his shoulders. "I'm going to go follow Rei." he said giving himself his own dismissal. The purple haired female obviously had other things on her mind.

"Oh Naruto-san!" Saeko cried out snapping out of her thoughts, "Umm. I tried to apologize to Miyamoto-san but..." her confidence wavered once again as the blonde turned to her. Something she knew she would have to work on, it was frankly embarrassing for her. Yet at the same time it was only the second time in her life that she had found herself in such a position. "Dinner will be ready soon... as well as... tomorrows bento..." she said quietly repeating the words she had told Takashi, not quite sure she could even admit what she said formerly under the blonde's gaze, she simply settled for the later however with a whole deal less confidence in the blonde's presence.

Naruto pursed his lips before giving the Busujima female a curt nod before making himself scarce.

Saeko released a breath she hadn't known she was holding upon the blonde's exit, before sighed and leaning against the counter as she carefully eyed the cooking pot. She now desperately wished her clothes would be dry soon.

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Alright, chapter seven. This chapter is actually once again what I felt as "Half a chapter" because I didn't want to post a 13k word chapter. Another thing that is noteworthy is that Rei and Naruto share another scene much similar, and I didn't want to have near back to back chapters showcasing that.

Anyways in ANs previously, I have mainly asked everyone what they thought and what not. However now if you are this far into the story, you have likely seen my writing capability, and have hopefully enjoyed it thus far. So now I can move onto more what do you want to see, and simply answering some questions. So that is what I'll do from now on. (**If you have any questions about the story and want them answered in an AN, just post them in a review.**) Also this AN will naturally be a bit longer. So if you have questions, read on ahead. If you don't like long ANs, you can freely go ahead and leave the page.

**The Mysterious Shackle**

I won't say much about this, as it is a rather major plot point. However people are asking why isn't Naruto using heavy amounts of chakra, utilizing massive jutsu. Why is it that he is simply using a kunai, and some wall walking or chakra jumps?

The shackle is suppressing his chakra. It hasn't really been too detailed upon because Naruto himself hasn't really had the time to analyze it. However you slowly but surely get to know more and more about it. I can say that by the time you leave Rika's apartment, you will know, and Naruto should know essentially what is going on with the shackle on his wrist. For now however he is simply being careful because... its a shackle that as far as he knows was the driving force that launched him into another world, and it is chakra powered. He doesn't want to take unnecessary risks with it just in case so he doesn't launch himself somewhere else.

**"Bleed, why aren't you showing the main cast from Highschool of the Dead more?"**

Why? Many reasons. Firstly, we all already know about the characters in the Highschool of the Dead series. Most of them already get expanded on in canon, and we know where they do as well. (EX: Saeko's inner self reveal when split from the group. Saya's issues with feeling useless, and her inferiority complex that she gains at her parents house. This is followed by her wanting to become better when they visit the police station. Kohta with the guns at Saya's place, or his time with the police officer girl, or his melt down upon his death.)

It is these reasons that I have been holding off on expanding on them. In this story, and I think it is the only story around that has kept Shido's group with the core group. So you have an entire party of OCs that you don't know that much about. Couple that with they are virtually blank slates without Shido's rather oppressive fanatical influence? You have a lot of potential outside of the core original cast.

Another note would be this story as I'm sure you have noticed revolves heavily around Naruto, and his impact on the world and those around him. Some change for the better. Some may change for the worse. Some scenes may pan out differently than they do in the canon story. An example would be on the bus with Shido, this is originally a time for Kohta to get his built up frustration off his chest with the former school teacher. However with Naruto around, he never got to do that. So you can imagine he is a bit more antsy being around the former teacher.

Then lastly, with all of the above put into consideration, I needed to make a choice. Who should I expand on in the allotted time that I am given per arc/episode of the story. And would those said characters being expanded on at this particular time actually feel right in the story? (For example, if Saeko randomly opened up to Takashi like she does in canon, but did so at Rika's house after barely knowing him, or seeing him rescue Alice. Would it feel as genuine to Saeko's character? Probably not.)

So as such the characters that I felt I could expand on in this early part of the story were also consequently the characters with the least amount of back story. (Takashi, and Rei, and a couple "OCs".)

Every character will have their time over the course of the story, I just can't make them all happen at once.

**"Bleed! Highschool of the Dead has a lot of action. However reading your story, a lot of the action seems to get skimmed over, why is that?"**

Well I'll tell you. This story as I have said revolves around Naruto's presence effecting the Highschool of the Dead world, and how things pan out because of it. Furthermore, a lot of people seem to overlook some things with zombie movies. Most zombies movies or shows are partly horror, and partly action, but mostly character driven. Sure there are zombies running around. However the zombies usually never differ and as such combat can only be so interesting and dynamic only a couple times before it just becomes "Okay last stand vs slow moving zombies."

As such zombie movies, games, and stories in general become very much character driven and about surviving in a new environment. (Ex: The Walking Dead, 28 days/weeks later, Shaun of the Dead, Dead Island, I am Legend, Dead Rising, Even Highschool of the Dead itself.) Often times instead of focusing on the zombies, they focus on the degrading sense of humanity amongst humans they encounter.

The exception to this "Rule" would be the Resident Evil series. This series is a lot more about a zombie outbreak caused by a virus or infection, and how the virus proceeds to mutate. Sure there are definitely character elements and portrayals in that. However in order to get through to that point you are usually fighting against some of the most horrendously mutated versions of zombies around with guns, close combat, and all sorts of deals. Even running around with super soldiers like Wesker.

**"But Bleed... There will still be action right?**

Yes there will be action as the story goes on. I haven't really decided how I intend to go about it. I'm not quite sure if I want to go the mutation route or not. But there will certainly be action as the story continues, so you need not fear in that regard.

If anyone has any ideas for this? I'm personally all ears. I would love to really be able to invoke fear in the audience. However making "impossible odds" feel "Real" with Naruto in the universe is pretty difficult. Add to the fact that most stories, you know that "Oh well this is a cool scene, Naruto and his group fighting a bunch of zombies. But we all know no one in Naruto's group is going to die so..." *proceeds to skim the action*

So I need to really find out a way to maintain a balance of action in a zombie apocalypse that feels worth it(like there is actually a risk for people). That balance I have not figured out how to do yet. So once again, open to suggestions.


	8. Treachery Is Hanged!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead

Warning: This chapter sums up a lot of the reason why this story is rated M now, and for future chapters.

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Rei stepped into the bathroom, having already passed both Shizuka and Saya resting on separate couches. Shizuka had all but crashed it appeared, as she had little care that the towel she was wrapped in barely covered her assets. Saya on the other hand still appeared to be awake, but at the sight of the two people that had walked into the room, she was quite unwilling to talk given their earlier encounter.

Naruto absentmindedly wondered if Ayane was still in the bathroom, but upon following Rei into the steamy bathroom, it was obvious that wasn't the case.

Rei went over to one of the shower heads and turned the water on to the highest temperature. She felt almost pathetic that she was silently hoping that the water was indeed cold, so Naruto couldn't simply opt to take a shower in peace. She was just simply wishing for anything to take her mind off of the situations that had been going on in the world around her. And lately for her, "Anything" had been the blonde trailing after her.

Her wishes however were answered as sure enough all of the hot water had been used up by the girls before. The double shower heads shooting onto bathwater likely did in the hot water a great deal faster than if they opted for a simple bubble bath.

Naruto made his way past Rei to situate himself, and his bucket in the corner of the room. He sat down on a plastic stool on the ground in front of the mirror, before gently sticking his hand into the still incredibly hot water.

Rei blushed as she took in what she was going to help her blonde friend with. She was still trying to wrap her head around where she got the courage to even ask the blonde if he needed assistance. One part of her mind was telling her that she was simply returning the favor to the blonde. The other part of her mind was yelling at her quite clearly that if the world hadn't gone to shit, she wouldn't even be considering this situation.

Despite herself she quickly made her way to the bathroom door before she turned the lock. If she was going to go through with this, she was sure as hell not going to have anyone walk in. She almost felt slightly guilty for being so embarrassed with the situation. It was obvious that the blonde during their time had treated it in a far less sexual light than how she was looking at it right now. She was acting like some sort of teenage girl that was just about to see her first...

_'Oh wait...'_ she thought to herself as if coming to a sudden revelation. '_I am a teenage girl about to see her first p...'_ She flushed even more so now as she crushed the train of thought under anything her mind could think of, which was two rhinos, three zebras, six enormous caterpillars, and a disfigured dolphin.

Rei shook her head free of thoughts, particularly the ones that told her she was about to go further with virtually a near stranger than she had ever been with any other boy... Takashi... Hisashi... _Her best friend..._ as she opted to try and just go with the flow of the situation. The blonde had already started washing his arms with the orange sponge, allowing it to soak up all of the dried blood.

Rei slowly came up and moved her stool slightly to the side of Naruto, if not a small margin behind him. She grabbed the orange sponge he was holding, and ran it through the _surprisingly_ still hot water with care. If it weren't for the blue color of the bucket, she was sure she may have found the water to already be fogging up with the blood being dispersed.

Rei ran the sponge over the blonde's back, silently wishing the blonde hadn't grabbed a sponge so she could appease her curiosity and truly see how hard those muscles of his were.

"You should take your top off." Naruto said in a tired voice breaking the silence that surrounded the two. He said the comment in a rather even tone despite the hint of a yawn in it, a tone that Rei had become to know the blonde for. It was at times like these that she wondered if there was more of an emotional spectrum to him just simply hidden under a number of walls, of if this was all that was truly there.

That thought actually made her feel sad, although it didn't erase the blonde's comment from her mind. "Why?" she asked curiously, far past the glaring faze of their relationship when he asked something like that of her.

Naruto seemed unfazed as he politely replied, "You only have one set of clothes, if you get them wet you will catch a cold if we have to move again. Getting a cold at a time like this wouldn't be wise."

Rei blinked a couple times at the reply. She was almost disappointed that it seemed the blonde was apparently immune to any form of temptation. Heck, she probably would have appreciated the blonde simply just telling her to take her top off, because he wanted to see her naked. She would say no, of course. However that didn't stop it from being a flattering thought.

If a boy at her school had told her to take her top off in their current situation, she knew it was only so they could get a better view. They didn't care if she got wet. Hell... on the other hand they probably wouldn't care either way if she was forced to wear a wet skin tight t-shirt. It was virtually the same result either way.

Still she proceeded to do her best to shift out of the blonde's vision as she stripped off her top, although his words didn't make her feel much more comfortable about it, "I don't know why you did that... I can still see you in the mirrors." Naruto drawled at the girl's attempt to hide herself.

To him her actions half the time when they were together like this were just illogical. "If you aren't comfortable with this, then don't do it. I am simply trying to get clean." he pointed out with a frown coming onto his face.

Rei's hand with the sponge stopped realizing that she had just been washing the same area of his back for the last couple of minutes. She also felt a bit of a stab to the gut at those words, as if the time right now with her here meant nothing. Rei shook her head into the mirror, her eyes firm as she proceeded to go almost double time to catch up on the areas of the blonde that she had formerly neglected.

Naruto sighed heavily as he just allowed himself to be washed in silence. It was on one hand slightly irritating. He could practically read the girl's thoughts flashing through her eyes by just looking at them through the mirror. And on the other hand the situation really brought him back to his time with Uzuki, if only briefly.

He only silently hoped that he wasn't that shy when he had first started his little sessions with his ANBU captain. Something in the back of his mind told him he was considerably worse with how naive he had used to be. He still remembered back when he was twelve and Hinata would blush around him, he thought she had a fever.

Yeah...

Yugao had thankfully killed that idiot with a blight so profound on his character that it was impossible to even attempt to recover from it.

Naruto closed his eyes and relaxed as the girl had quickly left his back and begun to work over his arms with the sponge. The only sound was the occasional splash as she rapidly dunk the sponge into water. Naruto instinctively fell into an almost meditative state with his hand outstretched.

Although meditation very rarely worked when you instantly captured the attention of the person sitting beside you who had to ask.

"Woah!" She cried out as she nearly fell off her stool after having looked at the palm of the blonde's hand. "What are those?" she asked wide eyed, having never seen anything like it before in her life.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked down to his fully open and spread hand. On the fingertips and slowly circling the fingers were five incredibly tiny balls of chakra. They were about the size of large marbles. While they appeared to be quite the impressive feat of chakra control itself when any ninja happened upon them. Closer inspection would reveal it to be probably one of the hardest chakra control exercises known in the shinobi world. All but trying to make a whirlpool temporarily rotate the other way.

"My father's creation." he said slightly bitterly as he rotated five little Rasengan balls on his fingers. He looked toward the shackle on his wrist, and was thankful what he was doing didn't seem to apply to whatever mechanics made the bracer work.

"Whats is called?" Rei asked, having slowed down her speed considerably as her curiosity was peaked.

"The Rasengan." Naruto replied simply, but the dry tone in his voice spoke about more than just the name.

"Were you two close?" Rei asked to be polite, prompting a snort from the blonde she was assisting.

"I was an orphan." Naruto replied bitterly at the thought. It was a thought he was not too happy about particularly after he realized he could have had a better life if his parents weren't just some stubborn righteous crusaders.

"But I thought you just said..." Rei began, but Naruto cut her off before she could finish already knowing where it was going.

"I did." Naruto said distastefully as the tiny little marbles of chakra began to roll around faster in his palm. "My parents both decided to sacrifice themselves for the '_Greater Good'_ when I was born. When I joined Anbu I learned about them from reading a mission report." It was actually multiple reports. He had passed upon the name Kushina Uzumaki listed in the ANBU headquaters when he had gone to file his own mission report assignment. Apparently it was safe enough to have his mother's files on record for 15% of the Konoha shinobi division to see, but not safe enough for a young boy to know who his mother was.

"Then... how did you find out about this... Rasengan." she said still trying to wrap her mind around the idea of this blue force she saw before her. She almost forgot that her hands weren't supposed to simply stop on his chest, and were supposed to actually wash it.

Naruto shrugged in a non-committal way. "I just figured it out shortly after I turned fifteen when experimenting with different forms of chakra control. One of my clones found it out I guess I should say." He said recalling the image of himself walking up to him during his circuit training. He didn't have time to listen to it in a minute long break, so he simply stabbed the poor clone. Naruto then began to muse over how his clone had come to grasp the idea of the Rasengan just naturally, but those thoughts didn't matter as Rei was simply stunned.

"Y-Y-Your clone!" she all but yelled the question in utter shock and surprise.

Naruto turned to her abruptly before turning to the door realizing how loud she had just been. "Are you kidding me right now?" Naruto asked harshly as he gave her a glare. "Quiet down." he said tensely.

Rei's surprise quickly died down as she felt like something akin to a scolded child. It was worse for her though as she still felt that she was being scolding by a person only a couple years older than her. She doubted she would ever completely accept the idea. "Sorry..." she whispered meekly.

Naruto dispersed the tiny spheres in his hand and let the chakra seep back into his skin in order to run a hand through his hair. "There are many things I can do." he whispered as the sponge finished up with his legs. "Chakra provided shinobi with virtually endless capabilities to do anything they set their mind to. Making clones on one's self was just one of the many things myself and my subordinates could do." Naruto explained.

Rei's jaw tightened at that thought, "How many clones... how many could you make?" Rei thought at the idea of ten Naruto's guarding their group, they could probably live safely for the rest of their lives.

"When I was younger I often used anywhere to a hundred to a couple thousand clones in a single encounter. However as I grew older, I usually just made three or so clones. Any more than that got in my way." Naruto said before closing his eyes as Rei continued washing, apparently absentmindedly below his belly button.

"A couple thousand..." Rei stuttered out her eyes drifting off at the thought of Naruto coming to their world, and stopping all of the Zombies by just making that many clones to protect all of the people, jumping from rooftops to rooftops. "But if you can make that many why don't you help people?" Rei said still washing, and not paying attention to what was under her hand and sponge.

"The shackle on my wrist..." Naruto all but growled out as he opened a single eye to glance at Rei, whom was apparently oblivious.

The young brown haired police officer's daughter looked down to the strange ornament on the blonde's wrist. However she was brought out of her thoughts by Naruto's voice.

"Rei!" Naruto called out a bit louder than usual to grab her attention. "You can stop, you don't have too..." Naruto squinted his eye back shut and let out a groan.

Rei looked curious as to what he meant before looking down to her auto pilot hands that were repeatedly working over, _'Oh my...'_ Rei thought to herself, her eyes growing wider than she ever thought possible.

"God!" she yelled out as she jumped up, nearly tripping over the stool she had been sitting on as she scrambled behind her for her discarded top. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She continued to repeat as she scrambled to her feet, pulling the shirt over her head as she backpeddled out of the room.

"I'll let you finish or well..." She said as she was reaching behind her for the door knob. "Well you know!" she said quickly as she finally reached the door and nearly pulled it off it's hinges with how quickly she pulled it open.

"Yeah... sorry! Bye!" she cried out, her face red as a Uzumaki's hair as she sped out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Naruto blinked a couple times before looking down, trying to fix his faster than normal heart beat. Naruto took a deep breath as he looked between his legs, a small irritation at the fact that he had decided to even mention anything.

He stepped up, and walked over to the shower handle, and turned it on to it's _hottest_ level.

'_Good.'_ Naruto thought as he tried to block out the stiff friend between his legs. _'The water is still cold...'_ he thought as he decided to finish rinsing off.

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Naruto sighed as he made his way up the stairs, wearing a fresh pair of pants he had unsealed only minutes before. He had the rest of his clothes unsealed perfectly in his grasp, even an article he hadn't intended to be carrying around, his ANBU mask. Although it didn't both him as he walked around drying off his hair and upper body with a towel.

Naruto was always in the his own awkward middle ground when it came to being wet. He didn't mind walking through the rain in the slightest. He didn't mind blistering dry heat from Suna either. But that annoying feeling you get when you are only barely wet, and you put on a shirt? The effect of having only about three random spots on your shirt wet from little droplets. It was one of the most annoying sensations Naruto felt he ever had to put up with besides a few choice genjutsu he would get caught in before he obtained the Rinnegan.

Naruto felt his eye twitch as he spotted Rei, now fully clothed sitting on the bed overlooking Saito's shoulder as he subtly moved his fingers over the plastic machine on his lap. He gently reminded himself that it was not _entirely_ her fault for stopping in the shower. '_It was just mostly...'_ he added dryly as he recalled the cold cold shower he needed to take before he could leave the bathroom.

Naruto glanced over to the other side of the room, and saw Ayane sitting quietly, one leg over another as she impatiently tapped her foot. This was further exentuated as she padded her fingers on the arms that was supporting the weight of her head as she looked out the corner of the balcony.

"Everything alright?" Naruto asked as he stood in front of Saito and Rei to glance over to the bored looking Ayane. Naturally this attracted the attention of everyone, but only prompted a single response when they realized where the blonde's gaze was cast.

Ayane looked stiffly up to Naruto before a frown fell upon her features as she cast her gaze elsewhere, "Nope." she replied bitterly.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that, "Care to talk about it?"

It only took Ayane one glance around for her to say, "Not really."

Naruto leaned back as as he crossed his arms over his chest giving the girl an questioning stare, "Not really isn't a no." Naruto knew it probably wasn't the best option to try and pry the girl open, but out of everyone in the large team he had fall under his command, she was one of the few he still simply didn't understand.

"You're right Naruto. Not really isn't a no. My sister died for me, how about you come back later?" she spat out with a roll of the eyes.

This was no surprise to Naruto, however the other couple students in the room were rather surprised at that. So far in their group besides the most recent Ryo, they hadn't lost anyone. As far as they knew, no one had even lost family members. It was a sad reality that let the other students understand why the girl was so closed off. Although Naruto didn't care.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah she did. Your sister also told me to look out for you, and that's what I'm trying to do." Naruto said as he shifted his weight leaning back to the other side.

"Regret saving me Uzumaki?" Ayane asked, not sparing the blonde a glance.

Naruto shook his head, there wasn't a point trying to talk to the girl right now. She obviously didn't want to talk as far as her disinterest. He looked out to the balcony and saw the scantly clad Saeko alongside both Kohta and Takashi.

He slid the glass door open before thinking over the question Ayane had asked. Naruto shrugged his shoulder as he mulled over his answers, "No I don't. I regret not saving you both." he replied honestly as he stepped out onto the balcony, effectively ending their conversation.

"Naruto-san!" he heard Saito call out before he slid the door shut.

Naruto gave the map making teen a questioning glance.

"Why are you carrying a mask?" he asked pointing to the uniquely designed black and red face plate Naruto had opted to utilize in ANBU. A prototype mask that was able to see heat signatures if chakra was channeled through it. Although it never went through production as the cost of making them were apparently too steep after the Suna-Oto invasion.

Naruto looked down at the mask that held many memories for the blonde jinchuriki. Naruto had worn the mask almost constantly with the exception of in the shower for a good couple years shortly after joining ANBU. He even wore it when he slept. He had only stopped wearing it when Konan had commented on it upon their arrival at Ame.

_I was the one designated to watch you Naruto. You have lived your entire life behind a mask. However one needs to know when to remove the mask before the perspective of a person's views become permanently changed._

Naruto snorted. At the time he was only fifteen, he had thought the blue haired paper wielder actually meant the physical plate he wore on his face. He later realized in life that her comments served to strike upon a deeper level.

_When a person wears a mask, the person becomes someone else entirely and is able to achieve great things while never revealing who they truly are. However it is important to never forget the difference between who you are, and who you're trying to be._

Naruto's lips formed into a thin line. He had thought she was speaking of Tobi at the time. It turned out that the woman was simply giving him a pep talk that he dutifully ignored at the time.

Naruto looked up at Saito as he held his clothes and the mask in hand before narrowing his eyes and simply sliding the glass door shut. That was a question he was not going to be answer for anyone.

"What do we have?" Naruto asked with a tone of authority that seemed to surprise the three on the balcony. Komuro had quickly turned, while Saeko had gone stiff lowering the binoculars to look at Naruto. Kohta on the other hand was the most amusing, but at the same time the most impressive of the bunch as he almost instantly snapped to attention at the mere tone of his voice, an impressive feat which he had to teach his own shinobi at times.

"The situation is getting worse..." Saeko said slowly as she brought the binoculars back up to enhance her vision, all the while keeping an eye on Naruto out of the corner of her eye.

Naruto nodded and leaned over the railing to take in the sights himself. Despite the fact that he was in an incredibly impressive city that dwarfed Konoha, given the fact that it was overrun with the dead made it considerably less attractive scenery. Naruto gazed over the streets like a hawk, with the vision of something better as he used his shinobi acute eyesight.

There was a man getting overrun by a group of zombies. A young woman desperately trying to hop a fence into a back yard, only to get bitten on the ankle. A man running down the street, only to get tackled by one of _them_ from his blind spot around the corner. There was even a man running with his pink haired daughter.

Takashi nearly yelled in disgust, "Damnit, this is awful." he said as he clenched his hands on the railing.

Naruto had to agree, but there was frankly nothing they could do about it. Particularly if they wanted to survive, getting more people into the group was asking for trouble. He was already having a frustrating time as it was knowing that Shido was consistently isolating his group from the rest whenever he had the chance, likely to give his little speeches.

Takashi quickly turned, probably intent on once again trying to be the hero.

"Komuro!" Kohta quickly bit out, looking away from the scope of his rifle. "Are we going to shoot them?" he asked, looking to follow orders.

"Well yeah! We'll shoot..." Takashi began anger rising in his voice at what he just witnessed on the streets before him.

Naruto was more than ready to tell the trio they wouldn't be doing a damn thing, and they would be staying put. However he didn't seem to need to as he felt at least one person had their head on straight and was thinking with their brain and not their heart.

"Have you forgotten that they react to sound Komuro-kun?" Saeko asked the teen. Naruto simply sat back and watched the exchange. It would be nice to see people within the group being capable of listening to reason from one another. However if he needed to step in, and create order, he would.

Saeko slid open the door and dimmed the lights to blackness using the high tech switch just inside the doorway. "The living will gather once they notice the lights and our figures. We lack the ability to help those that are still living, even if we wanted to. Look for yourself Komuro, you must grow accustomed to this." Saeko said as she held up the tool for the brown haired teen, "Furthermore, this world has become a place where you cannot survive on chivalry alone." she finished as she dropped the binoculars in his hands.

Komuro had a withdrawn expression on his face as he stood up straighter and looked at the purple haired young woman. Even the rest of the room had taken an interest in the rest of the conversation. "I thought you were a little different, Busujima-_sempai_." the brown haired teen said, using her last name and suffix purposefully, hoping to get a rise out of the woman. She had only not that long ago asked for him to use solely her first name.

Saeko turned around with a very weak smile on her face, "Don't get the wrong idea Komuro-kun. Whether you like it or not, I am merely stating the truth." she commented before making her way down the stairs.

Takashi's face tighted as he clenched his fists and jaw before walking back out onto the balcony to overlook the street.

"She's right." Naruto commented from his position leaning against the railing, finally deciding to pipe in on the discussion. "We can't house them." he said as he stepped away from the railing and to the open glass door, and spoke loud enough so both the inside and the outside could hear him just fine. "No one is to leave this house for any reason tonight, especially to make some sort of foolish rescue attempt. Understood? I'm sure you remember what happened last time people went off against those things outside." Naruto asked as he gave everyone a pointed stare.

Most of the people inside seemed to agree. However the two boys on the balcony seemed a bit more reluctant to do so.

"I mean it." Naruto said sternly. The last thing he needed was them being forced to give up their safe haven because people wanted to play the hero. "Most of you should just go to bed."

"And you Naruto-san? What will you do?" Saito asked with a questioning stare as he looked up from his mechanical contraption on his lap once again.

Naruto pursed his lips distastefully, "I will as well, after I check on Shido's students..." he said slowly as he made his way inside, sliding on the remainder of a hooded form of ANBU uniform in the process.

It was at that time Takashi used the binoculars to spot a father and his daughter running down the street.

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Naruto sneered in disgust the moment he opened the door to go downstairs. Loud music blared into his ears as the sound proof room had been breached. One foot in the doorway forced him to inhale the heavy musk that saturated the air. The room's air was hot, thick, and heavy. The room completely void of windows, and any form of outside light. Only the slight flickering of light of a movie illuminated the room.

Naruto quickly closed the door to the loud room behind him. Why was it loud? In part it was due to the movie that was playing over everything else happening in the room. However that didn't stop the occasional cry of pleasure, or even the feminine yelps of pain to pierce through the recording.

Naruto made his way down the steps to be greeted by the sight of a small movie theatre, playing what appeared to be a rather impressive action film. However anything that was impressive about the scene was utterly erased by the sight before him.

Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Envy, Sloth, Wrath, Pride. The seven sins were laid out before him as he narrowed his eyes at the sight.

Jin with the beautiful short haired busty girl bouncing in a fit on lust on his lap.

The looks envy and greed from the other lone longer haired male in the room as he savagely took the dark brown haired girl from behind like she was a bitch in heat. The look of sheer wrath and hatred on her face as her hair was being pulled promised a future pain for the boy behind her, despite her pride diminishing in her eyes.

However what disgusted Naruto the most was the teacher. The closest thing to a leader that this offshoot group had. He sat in a chair, not facing the big screen, reclining back in a chair like a lazy sloth with a look of pride of his face as he watched everyone in the room, not having noticed Naruto, likely lost in pleasure.

Why the pleasure? The young long dark haired girl was on her knees, hands spread on either side of the couch, her head between her _sensei's_ legs, bobbing up and down. Shido appeared none the wiser of the new guest as he gripped the back of her head tightly with his hands wrapped in her hair, roughly pushing the girl's head down upon him causing sick gagging and choking sounds.

_'I have killed people for less...'_ Naruto told himself as he looked over the room. His left hand twitched desperately at the grip upon his mask, urging him to put it on, to become another person. A person that no longer cared about rules and regulations, a shinobi that got the job done. His other hand, desperately twitching on his tool bag.

Exactly 2.78 seconds...

That is how long it would take for a kunai or shurikan to strike true on every skull of every person in the room.

"On your fucking feet!" Naruto yelled out in a booming voice full of rage as he stormed over to the '_teacher'_ that had apparently become some ridiculous leader for this group of students under Naruto's own watch. A matter Naruto knew that he was surely going to rectify in the next passing moments.

Killing intent leaked from every pore of his body as he stormed down the row of chairs. His voice causing any and all people in the room to stop any action that was formerly taking place.

The young brown haired girl that was on her knees before the young boy scrambled for her clothes that had been forcefully discarded on the ground before her. She didn't even put them on as she scooped them up into her arms to cover herself, tears in her eyes.

Naruto walked by the young longer haired boy and viciously rammed his knee into the boy's nose, instantly crushing it under the might of a shinobi's chakra enhanced limbs. The act alone didn't even break the blonde's stride at the longer haired teen doubled over with a scream of agony, spitting out several of his teeth as blood poured from his destroyed nostrils.

The girl that was in between Shido's legs seemed to no longer care, seemingly lost in her own world as she went back to work on Shido, despite the man himself scrambling to pull of his pants that had pooled and been caught under his shoes as Naruto approached.

He was too slow. _He would always be too slow._

Why?

Shido was only human.

Naruto delivered a crushing hook to Shido's face, but by the time the impact had effectively hit, despite the momentum Naruto caught his neck with his other hand. He hoisted the former teacher off the ground by the neck, choking the man all the while.

Any erection he had mere moments ago from the girl's activities had completely and utterly died as his entire body hung flaccid in mid air. Naruto's eyes narrowed harshly before the man got the opportunity to speak, and roughly threw him into one of the chairs on the other end of the room. While the seats were cushioned, when not in use they were big bolted down pieces of metal in many areas.

Shido impacted hard against the seat, his head whip-lashing violently as it rebounded against the wall with a resounding crack.

_'Don't harm civilians...'_ Naruto fought down a laugh as he reached for a black and red mask, and adjusted it on his face, before slowly pulling the hood over his recognizable blonde hair.

_Anonymity is power in our world Naruto. But it is easy to get consumed by that power and forget who you really are, and where your true loyalties lie._

Naruto gaze turned to the teacher as the seals on his mask restored his vision to him completely. Shido had since slumped to the ground groaning in pain, clutching his sides, no longer caring that his pants were still around his ankles.

Naruto turned to the last couple in the group, both of whom had since bolted up and stood by the doorway. The girl was frozen in fear, and Jin was considerably tense, his hand seemingly trying to grab for something on his shoulder that simply wasn't there.

Naruto moved towards the couple before the girl blurted out, "I wanted it!" she said quickly. "I actually wanted to do it!" she repeated again as if to make the statement more true.

Naruto's advance upon the final couple halted as he heard that. Oh he was a hairline fracture away from not giving a damn, and taking out his rage on the last two remaining members.

Naruto however scowled under his mask as he looked away from the two. "Get the fuck out of here." he bit out harshly.

Jin and the girl apparently didn't need to be told twice as the two of them bolted up the stairs.

Naruto glared at the deflated Shido, and saw that the girl he had been with had since actually gone and sat by his side to see if he was okay. Naruto was sure he would break that delusional mentality shortly.

The long haired boy still gasping, not quite grasping on how he should breath with blood going down his throat from his caved in nose on the other hand...

The girl he had been with had backed up into the wall, tears staining her face, her ripped skirt having been put on if only barely clinging to her waist. Her top on the other hand was in ruins.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he disappeared and reappeared with his foot in the boy's gut. At least that is what it appeared like in the eyes of the civilians. The boy heaved over in agony, coughing up blood onto the floor as Naruto deftly moved to the side before the boy could spit it on him.

Naruto grabbed him from his hair and hefted him off the ground like a piece of luggage. Not entirely off the ground however. He still wanted the boy's legs to bang against every step as he carried him up the stairs.

Naruto turned to the crying girl, "Go upstairs and go see Busujima Saeko, the purple haired girl. She will take care of you."

The girl nodded her head frantically before she wiped her eyes and scurried up the stairs.

Naruto however merely looked down at the boy in agony under his grip. The truth was the girl wouldn't be okay. There was nothing Saeko could do for her.

The physical trauma done to her body may recover in perhaps three weeks. The potential emotional trauma? Three years, if not more.

Naruto stomped up the stairs with the boy crying out in pain. However Naruto's emotionless mask only served to be a barrier between his emotionless face.

Naruto opened the sound proofing door only to hear the sound of gunshots.

'_Yet another problem I will attend to shortly...'_ he thought coldly as he looked down to the boy, despite his injuries doing his best to kick and scream out of his grip. Surely no different than the girl had potentially done long not before.

Naruto stepped into the kitchen to which he was slightly surprised to find empty. However as more and more gunshots sounded, his irritation only served to grow. He suddenly felt really old as he felt like he was taking care of children.

_Civilian children._ Shinobi children wouldn't even be that stupid.

"What are you doing?" the teen gargled out with blood as he was strung along by his hair.

As no one was around to hear him, he humbled the boy. "In the new shinobi world, treachery is punishable by one way and one way only. Treachery is hanged." Naruto said with the same cold chill to his voice as he heaved the boy up the stairs, his hair tearing under his grip. Thud after thud sounded as the boy's back and ankles hit each and every wooden step along the way.

Naruto's lips curled into disgust at the boy who had likely felt he was so strong with the girl mere moments ago, and now was just so pathetically weak. A shinobi... no even a bandit would have at least got on their feet like a man and faced their punishment.

Naruto walked across the empty bedroom with the kicking and screaming boy. He reached down during his march, ripping off the bed sheet with a single stroke. As he walked to the glass door leading to the balcony, he repeatedly whipped the sheet until it was a thin rope. However instead of sliding open the glass door, Naruto simply opted to throw the boy through it.

Komuro would later wonder why Kohta had a bullet graze so close to his face that it was actually able to cut his hair, before marking his first missed target.

"Are you trying to make me kill Komuro!" Kohta yelled in a panic, looking up from his gun's scope, as he turned around.

The boy flew through the door, his face once again impacting harshly against a surface, this time the balcony's railing.

Naruto took a moment to register what the shorter boy had exactly said. It was only when he saw Komuro running down the street below, just past the wall that Naruto went ahead and growled out, "That sounds like a personal problem, disobeying a direct order."

Naruto however wasted no time waiting for a reply as he took the length of bed sheet in both hands, and wrapped it tightly around the boy's neck.

"Naruto-san!"

"What the hell!

"Ahhh!"

"Uzumaki-san?"

"Naruto?"

All tones from the five people situated on the balcony asked the unasked question of what the hell the blonde was doing. Even though they could not see his face, the feeling that overcame them the moment his presence was known was momentarily suffocating. That was until his killing intent was refocused on the boy with the bed sheet around his neck.

And it was in these next few moments in time that while frozen in shock... Kohta, Saito, Jin, Ayane, and the short haired girl could only look on in horror as the blonde lifted the boy by the back of his head, and threw him over the side of the balcony.

The fall would have surely killed him, if not injured him beyond the point of medical treatment for their situation. However their eyes would never forget the sight of the blonde tightly holding onto his end of the bed sheet, and whipping it moments after throwing the student over.

The resounding crack that sounded loud and clear in the silence of the night would forever plague their memories.

Naruto's sneer behind his mask died down as he tied the end of the bed sheet to the railing. He would let that be a reminder to everyone. Treachery against the team would end as such. Rape however he felt simply needed no explanation. He didn't need to give the boy a pamphlet on how to be a human being.

"Now please all of you." Naruto said as he looked over the stunned teens gathered around. Naruto turned and sneered at Jin. The boy had taken the crossbow from the locker inside. Naruto quickly snatched that out of his grip, with minimal effort. "You don't get to have this." Naruto said coldly as he stepped back and tossed it on the bed inside.

"Now someone tell me whose god awful idea was it to piss me off by disobeying a direct order." Naruto behind his mask had long since forgot that he was talking to simple civilians. Human beings that still held their emotion's close to their heart.

"Dude! It was a little girl!" Hirano yelled out in an animated fashion more than willing to take the blame for something he believed in. However quickly he shook his head as if suddenly remembering his job he was supposed to be doing before quickly turning back to the scope, and firing several shots.

Naruto's eyes narrowed at that as he looked out over the street. Sure enough, there was Takashi running around with the golden baseball bat in a small yard in front of a house, doing his best to not get eaten.

Naruto rushed up and yanked the gun from Kohta's hands, momentarily taking the time to examine it. "Go to bed." Naruto said coldly as he looked over the gun for a mere second curiously before his gaze returned to a hardened one.

"What! Komuro needs me!" Kohta cried out, and much to Naruto's own surprise, jumped up and snatched the gun back.

Naruto was stressed enough as it was, he was all but ready to use force against the chubby boy beside him. But his jaw tightened at the sight of the little girl, and Komuro trying his very best to defend her. An effort that was surely going to end in failure without actual assistance near by.

Naruto growled, "Fine. I'll go get him." Naruto all but spat as he brushed past the students, and passed through the broken window, leaving everyone else to stare at the troubles Komuro was facing, and the sick feeling in the pit of their stomachs at the sight of the tied up piece of bed sheet.

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Alright and this is pretty much the second half of the last chapter I opted not to post. As I am sure you can see it is quite the darker chapter. Anyone who reads my stories knows I don't tend to go the "Happy go lucky, everything is fine" route, no matter what I decide to write. So whether it comes down to sex, rape, death, torture, extreme violence. I don't really care as long as I feel that the story works, and the scene fits.

I have no doubt that this may turn a few readers off whom were hoping to see a rather light hearted Highschool of the Dead story. However the fact of the matter is that the story will definitely have dark elements to it.

Anyways with all of that said, I won't try and explain myself here. If you have questions or concerns about the story now that this chapter is out there? Feel free to put them in a review. I am pretty solid about getting back to anyone and everyone in a PM if you word your review like a question. Now onto some questions.

**"Hey Bleed, Bro, Broski, Dude! I think you should stop letting people control your story. Tired of reading you keep telling people this story isn't NarutoxRei."**

Well hello there good chap! But no seriously, I could honestly care less what people care about my story. It is just after writing fan fiction for a number of years(probably 7-8) and being on the site probably a bit over ten years now? One comes to appreciate the fans of their stories. And over my ten years of reading on this site, it isn't like buying a book. You are never putting down money for a story, and as such you are never really committed to finish it. As such there have been numerous times that I have been reading a story that has been going relatively well, and then the writer would make some completely random turn that would lead the story down a road I would no longer wish to read. (EX: Reading a very solid story with a Naruto that had grown up a lot more street smart. And then suddenly spinning the story into a Sasuke/Naruto yaoi fest 14 chapters into the story with no warning.)

After that moment, I felt it to be almost imperative that the fans at least have a vague feeling of where they are going or how the story will turn out, so they don't get any sideways surprises like that. I'm sure you all wouldn't like it if 16 chapters into this story, I decided that Takashi and Naruto were going to have sex in a changing room at the mall now would you?

**"Yo Bleed! Will Naruto be getting all the girls?"**

No.

**"Bleed! My brotha from anotha motha! A lot of people gave you suggestions in the reviews about mutations. Others said they were against it. Can you tell us anything you plan to do about that?"**

That I can. I guess the term "mutation" can get some bad flak from people because with the term mutation people instantly think of Resident Evil or Left 4 Dead, and they don't want to see tanks or Wesker's or Nemesis running around. Fear not, that won't be happening.

When I was thinking over the idea of mutations? I was toying with things more along the lines of human beings that were already sick with a disease becoming zombies made their disease run rampant to an extreme.

I'll list a couple examples.

Someone with cancer pre infection may be able to resist head trauma, or recover and regenerate from head trauma/wounds.

Someone with Muscle Dysmorphia may have extremely tight skin and muscles, and be bulkier and resistant to physical trauma.

Someone with anxiety issues may have over active adrenal glans causing the zombies to move faster, perhaps even run.

Someone who was already Deaf upon being infected may retain all of his senses and simply never recover his hearing

Perhaps even go down the route of having a zombie have some sort of illness or wound that causes his bodies' sweat glans to instead secrete hydrochloric acid through his pours, and his stagnant bloodstream burning anyone who touches him.

These are just ideas, I don't even know If I will put them into practice. **If you fans know any interesting medical illnesses that would potentially create interesting zombies, please mention them. The more ideas I have, the more I have to work with.**

******"Dude... Not cool! Bleed you keep focusing on OCs and not on the original cast. What is up with that?"**

I will keep this short. However the main reason for this, I believe I have mentioned. We all as fans know how the original cast acts. We also know where they get expanded on as characters. Right now I want to establish every person as a character, and part of the group.

Like a lot of people I already see in reviews are like "Oh I hate Shido, he is evil! Kill him soon plz!" and yes, he is evil. However that doesn't mean he can't be interesting and have redeeming qualities. He guided an entire group of unarmed students out of a school. He obviously has a lot of charisma to be able to turn all of those students into essentially drones. And to top it all off? He is truthfully trying to just get back at his father who he feels betrayed him.

In fact? Shido is probably the most in depth character in the entire series... which is a bit sad. However fear not. Everyone will get expanded on. I am just going to be doing it where I feel they fit in the story.

Anyways read and review.


	9. In the End? It Doesn't Even Matter

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead.

I haven't proof read this. Been busy at a funeral.

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If the outside world was coming under an apocalypse? Then Naruto appeared to be death, his advance unstoppable by any force at that moment. All he required was a pale horse and a scythe.

Naruto stepped outside, apparently shortly after a sleepy Takagi Saya whom was busy making her way down the steps.

"What is all this commotion about?" Saya asked in a tired voice.

Naruto made his way down the staircase suited up in his standard ANBU attire that he wore for years. He looked out to see something that mad his stomach clench lightly. Both Rei and Saeko were out there as well as the still upset brown haired girl. However what really hurt was that both Rei and Saeko, two people he felt he could trust in the group to be on his side were apparently in on this stunt as well.

"Something pleasant." was Rei's cheerful reply.

"Huh?" Saya said in confusion, rubbing her eyes a bit trying to make herself fully wake up.

"We realized that we're still human." Rei quickly commented in response. Even Saeko appeared to be smiling at that.

Naruto however decided to attract attention to himself by simply stating his honest opinion, "You were human before you decided to put the lives of all of your comrades at risk for one person. Now you are all just stupid." Naruto pointed out bitterly as he reached the ground floor. "I had enough trouble keeping both groups in the house together under these circumstances. There were even issues I had to deal with tonight." He gave the brown haired girl a pointed look which caused her to shrink back a bit under scrutiny.

"Now I have to find out that the people in the group I had formerly trusted can't follow the simplest of orders." Naruto said coldly, his faceless appearance adding a tense feeling to the conversation for the female students.

"What issues did you have to deal with Uzumaki-kun?" Saeko asked, her interest peaked.

Naruto turned to the brown haired girl in a bit of surprise figuring she would have mentioned what had happened to her. But then again... on the other hand Rei didn't even want to admit to there being an attempt on her.

Naruto walked passed the girls and up to the gate before calming himself as he crafted his plan. He inclined his head to the balcony, "The problem has been dealt with. Now please just go inside while I figure out how to solve yet another problem. Just please listen and don't do anything else... go inside." Naruto said through gritted teeth.

He didn't want to sound like a condescending asshole. However pretty much any and all patience left in him had faded. He was tired. Protecting civilians is always a hard situation, it never gets any easier. You are being expected to protect a group that cannot protect themselves often under stressful situations. You can try as hard as you want, protecting civilians that don't feel like they need to be protected or don't need to follow orders is virtually an impossible situation.

"Naruto-kun, we already have a pla- Oh my god!" Rei had been in the process of turning her head to the balcony, before what she had been saying had completely and utterly changed.

Naruto didn't stick around to answer questions. With a small chakra enhanced jump, he hopped over the gate perfectly fine as he made his way down the street. He got within thirty feet of the zombie, and it was then that he prepared for action.

Naruto gave a sneer at all of the walking dead before him. His mind wandering somewhere else as he gazed at his foes from beyond his mask. He wasn't too focused on the trivial encounter before him, or what he was going to do about it. Him utilizing barely any chakra in the process of unsealing an especially sharp combat worn ninja-to from his more prominent ANBU days solved that small mental question.

Naruto walked into the fray of zombies with his blade drawn, minimal amounts of wind chakra being channeled into it. He was more focused on looking to the shackle on his arm as he began to cut the zombies down with simple cleaving strokes, specifically aimed to cut the head in half, but leave the body in tact.

The shackle faintly glowed during the process of the chakra manipulation. The slightest glowing hairline fractures made their presence known on the metal. Every second the chakra was channeled, the more fractures appeared. Manipulating wind chakra wasn't like his simple rasengan like meditative state. The Rasengan used chakra to create it, this was true. However it use a set amount of chakra that in truth wasn't that high as people like to believe. It was just a ball generated by chakra that was forced into rotation. Only when you used it to impact on something, and grind away at it was the chakra ever spent in order to replace the chakra used to grind away.

Naruto could have compared it to the idea of taking away electrons, or whatever they were called, of an element in the process of grinding, and being forced to replace them with his own chakra. However he didn't have the time to learn of some form of elemental table. He was by no means a textbook genius. He was just any average shinobi that had worked their ass off. No different than anyone in his graduating class. Some were born into great families, others born with great chakra control... he was born with a demon.

Naruto's face turned into a blank one behind his mask as he cut down zombie after zombie, the sound of a thousand blades rustling against each other's edge was ever present but at the same time nearly silent. It was only a low hum in the cold of night. The faintest glow of chakra extending just ever so slightly from the actual blade.

Soon enough however channeling the chakra had caused far too many hairline fractures to appear on the metal. At least in his case it was more than he was really willing to risk having appear. He had already been spiraled through to another world. He wasn't keen on the idea of spiralling into another one, or worse, simply being killed.

Naruto jumped onto a ledge above the zombies, a stone wall that effectively separated the zombies from the houses behind them. He walked along rather casually. He was a ninja, he was always moving silently. It was an act that gets so engraved into a person's reality that it never really stops or just turns off. Often times in the shinobi world, a lack of silence in any form often meant death. This exspanded from the silence of one's feet to the ability to stay silent about various details or secrets.

It wasn't long before he found himself standing on a ledge watching the scene before him unnoticed. Komuro was frantically trying to defend himself, and the little girl and a dog with a baseball bat alone. It was silly and impractically. The bat was large, and got in the way. He needed to be extra careful to not make any extra noise by striking a nearby wall or something. That of course didn't stop the resounding thuds that would have been quite sick under different circumstances. The sound of skulls being repeatedly crushed only served to funnel more and more zombies in through the gate.

"I should let you die." Naruto said plainly from his spot on the wall as he overlooked the scene before him with a cold gaze.

"Naruto-san!" Takashi exclaimed in surprise, totally not registering the statement as he was now being alerted to the blonde's presence despite the chaos of battle. Although that surprise quickly turned into a look of slight disturbance seeing the blonde's current look. He had the same voice, but the look the blonde gave off was well... freightening.

"Papa..." the younger girl mumbled to herself with tear stained eyes in a state much like the one he had found Ayane in not long ago as she gazed upon her fallen father. The dog frantically trying to be a protector despite his small size.

Naruto's gaze turned to the gate briefly, before he walked along the ledge and simply kicked it closed, leaving a couple more zombies for Komuro to deal with.

It was barbaric and random in Naruto's eyes the way the brown haired boy fought. But truthfully it was most likely due to the lack of any training. He still remembered a time where he fought like a rampaging brute despite actually having training.

Takashi ran up to a zombie that was about attack the young girl before he viciously smashed it's head against his bat, before it rebounded against the concrete wall. Both impacts would have killed it.

However Takashi made a rookie mistake of an untrained civilian as he gave his back completely exposed to the enemy. Naruto let the fact slide that the creatures he was fighting had probably sub-animal intelligence. However that didn't stop his disapproval.

The walking dead stumbled up upon Takashi's exposed back, and he quickly spun around due to the helpful cry from the pink haired girl. However it was too late. The spot where the zombie had come upon Komuro was essentially his deadzone.

An area where he could do nothing. He had a metal bat, an impressive one, but it was big and clumsy. Ninja preferred the kunai because it was strong and sturdy, it could effectively block even the largest of blades if necessary. Yet it was one of the smallest shinobi tools around. It was also why the idea of a Katana had quickly phased out in the shinobi world. While it was still wielded with skill by the Samurai of Iron country, it simply couldn't hold up against the deadly and dismantling properties a kunai could provide. Particularly if you had a skill you could perform with a single hand.

It was like slow motion, the zombie had opened it's mouth and was rushing in. Komuro was desperately trying to utilize his bat. He may have had a chance if he had tried to use it with both hands for defense. However it was simply the inexperienced mentality that people had that assumed the best defense was an aggressive offense.

_"You are so set on hurting people that you just hurt yourself."_

Naruto's lips thinned ever slightly as time was virtually stopped for his mind on the scene before him. He could only roll his eyes at the thought of one of his many lessons under his squad captain in ANBU. '_Takashi needs that lesson, I don't... anymore.'_ Naruto thought dryly.

Naruto sighed and flung the ninja-to in his hand forward, causing it to stick straight into the zombie's head, not even a second before what would have surely been Komuro's demise.

Takashi collapsed backwards in the shocking realization that he was mere moments away from him becoming one of _them_.

Naruto stepped forward with a frown beneath his mask, and withdrew his blade from the collapsed zombie. It was one of the utmost laws in the shinobi world that civilians are not to be harmed. It isn't _always_ upheld. However it is _always_ frowned upon when it is not. Yet at this present time he wanted nothing more than to let the brown haired headstrong teen die from the walking dead onslaught.

"Takashi what did I tell you?" Naruto asked coldly as he moved over to a line of hanging shirts. His blade had been completely clean through the use of chakra until that last kill, he wasn't going to let it remain that way. For that reason he gently and carefully used one of the shirts to wipe off the blood and brain matter on his blade.

Any thanks Takashi was going to formerly give to the blonde died on his lips at the tone of his voice. He tried his best to make light of the situation, "Well we saved the girl." he said a bit proudly.

Naruto stopped wiping off his blade at that, "And?" Naruto questioned in annoyance as he continued with the shirt.

Takashi opened his mouth before closing it. This process happened a few times as he worked out exactly what he wanted to say. "And... I don't know we saved a life right? That is whats important." he said with a frown.

Naruto looked over his shoulder at what he could only seem to feel was a naive boy with a big heart. In truth, Naruto knew that Takashi was pretty much him five years ago. It was for that reason he bit his tongue on some less than polite comebacks.

"Look around Takashi. Getting here to the girl was the easy part. She isn't saved." Naruto's statement felt all the more real as arms began to extend through the closed gate, as well as groaning from the dead. "You risked not only your own life, but the lives of our entire group as your mission forced Kohta to fire his weapon. The sound attracted easily over a hundred of these things, right outside on this street. A street that was previously empty." Naruto said as he finally turned to face the brown haired teen fully.

Takashi's hands clenched at his jeans as what he felt was formerly a great successful was shortly turned into what he felt was a pointless victory.

"I could, and frankly probably should have let you die." Naruto said quietly, and honestly.

Takashi's head snapped up at that, "You would just let me die when you could save me?" Takashi asked, his entire being filled with a renewed vigor.

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest, "I decided to be your leader. But not just you, everyone's leader. That means I need to protect them. I can't have someone running around that I can't trust." Naruto said, standing up completely straight looking quite imposing in his mask.

Takashi grit his teeth, "What? Can't trust me with what happened with Ryo?" Takashi said bitterly, his failure still a sore subject.

Naruto rolled his eyes beneath his mask, "You think that is why I can't trust you? I can't trust you because I specifically told you not to do this. Saeko told you not to do this, I was there. Yet you put the lives of everyone in danger for a little girl." Naruto all but spat out.

The said young girl began to outright cry, "Onii-chan saved me!" She cried out before returning to tears in the corner. "My Daddy is dead..." she quietly cried to herself. However she was heard quite clearly from the two teens in the yard.

"Busuj... Saeko-san approved of this." Takashi tried to reason.

Naruto shook his head, "I don't care if Busujima-san approved of this. I didn't approve of it. You knew that. Yet you went behind my back anyways."

"What the hell is so wrong with wanting to save a little girl?" Takashi finally questioned in an outburst, not caring in the zombies could hear him. "It has barely been a couple days Uzumaki-san, where the hell did your humanity go?" Takashi grit out, his fists clenched.

Naruto's eyes narrowed in anger at that, "You idiot!" he began loudly. "This argument will never be about the girl. Or humanity, particularly mine. I don't care about either. This is solely because I can't trust-" Naruto had since gotten in Takashi's face with the impressive speed of a ninja. It was then that he decided to deliver a rather solid punch to Takashi's face that would undoubtedly leave him with a black eye. "You to follow orders. So I can't trust you around _our_ team." Naruto said bitterly as Takashi collasped to the ground with a loud cry.

Naruto squeezed his eyes closed as he ran a hand through his hair in irritation. He was simply doing his best to block out the young girl's frantic cries, Takashi's pained moans, the dog's constant barking. Even the zombies beyond the gate had grown to be beyond annoying.

Naruto growled lightly behind his mask as he walked over to the young girl and her puppy before lifting the two up under his arm with a surprised cry. He honestly doubted she liked him that much given what he had been saying recently. However he honestly didn't care. To him this was only the surface of the real mess that he had to clean up. The real mess was just beyond the wall.

Naruto then bent down and hefted the groaning Takashi onto his shoulder as he said, "Let the black eye you're going to have be a reminder to follow directions, and that you lived long enough to get that because I decided to save your life."

This action however didn't go unnoticed by the young girl, but also the watchful protector that was the ranged sniper located on an apartment balcony not far from them.

Naruto at that point was more than prepared to carry the two out of there. However just before he was about to make his jump, he had to hear the barking of the dog that had formerly been practically in the young girl's lap.

Naruto hung his head with a heavy sigh as he gently lowered the girl to the ground, "Grab the puppy." he said trying desperately to fight his annoyance. It was things like this that made him feel really tired. He knew he would love nothing more than to stay a few days at the apartment and just crash, and get some well deserved rest. The things he had done in this world and his own without sleep? Naruto snorted at the thought. He knew he deserved his rest.

The moment the puppy was in the girl's arms, Naruto stood up and leaped up onto the wall that bordered the houses. The "Luggage" he was carrying was truthfully not that heavy. Being a shinobi aside. It was more due to the fact that he had been in war, on battlefields. People were being killed or severely injured all the time. He had lost count of the amount of men and women from all countries that he had carried off the field. Whether it be himself or his clones. And frankly they often weighed a great deal more than the few in his arms.

Although while Naruto was absentmindedly carrying the few over what he felt was a perfectly safe path. He didn't notice the utter shock and surprise on Takashi's face, despite the tense and scared silence he and the little girl put themselves in.

Naruto had taken to the last leg of their journey past the zombies by simply walking on their heads, as if he was walking on solid ground.

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Naruto sighed as he touched down on the ground in front of the gate with a thoroughly surprised yet scared duo, and innocent puppy. His vision swam for a moment as the days he had been awake started to take a toll on him. He had been awake for two days before he even made it to this world.

Naruto pursed his lips at he looked to the horde of around a hundred-fifty zombies gathered around just down the street. '_And I doubt I'll be getting to sleep tonight either...'_ he thought to himself sadly as he looked down to one of his hands going through a spasm of twitches. Whether it was due to coming down from his adrenaline and partially anger infused high? Or simply his muscles spasming from constant use without rest.

This wasn't to say that this type of situation was something foriegn to him. When he had joined ANBU he had to go through some of the most ridiculous training he had ever had to do. '_Hell week...'_ Naruto thought dryly as he opened the gate to the guarded house.

Uzuki Yugao was his ANBU captain when he joined ANBU. However the woman was stressed out and hurt. She had lost her husband not long before on a mission to Suna in order to gather intel. However it was quite evident at the time that the woman didn't like confronting her emotions and dealing with them. So she naturally went ahead and did the most logical thing.

Treat the new ANBU recruits like shit and to put the _Hell_ in Hell week.

The program would bind your chakra for a week as you are forced to travel over 200 miles, through all elements. Whether it be over mountains covered in snow, flying off of those mountains with shinobi glide suits, through the seas to the east of fire country. All the while the recruits were forced to do some of the most grueling of workouts. Workouts that Maito Gai had done on a good day on a regular basis. Now truthfully just that amount, Naruto had to admit it sounded a bit fun.

However then he had to recall the _pleasant_ memory of in addition to having your chakra bound, you aren't allowed to sleep... period. Yugao's own frustration manifesting it's ability to utterly write off the four hours of sleep recruits usually get over the course of the week.

It really just comes down to will power at that point. The first two days, he was _there_, and at the third he barely made it through that with his sanity. That feat alone was more than could be said for others. After that point, the body just goes into auto pilot struggling and pushing forward. The key no longer becomes surviving hell week. It just becomes surviving until the next meal, often inside enemy territory.

Naruto shook his head free of the horrors of hell week, something he had been forced to take part in on more than one occasion.

It was at that moment that Naruto took note of what was happening before him. Now he didn't like to curse often. However this was one of those few moments he felt warranted it. "What the fuck is this?" Naruto all but snarled out in a yell.

"Naruto!" Rei quickly yelled back as she hugged the young girl to her body, covering her ears.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Right let me rephrase that. What the _fuck_ are you all doing?" he said spending extra time on his favorite word in the question.

Sure enough, the teenagers were scrambling around piling gear and various things outside and into the car as Shizuka was getting the large car ready as she sat in the driver seat. Although her interest in the car had been broken upon Naruto's angry tone.

Upon the silence of the frozen females in the drive way, Naruto was forced to repeat himself while looking around.

It appeared that everyone was outside, except for Shido and the young teenage girl he was with. Although he did feel that how everyone was spread out was of note. It told him a lot.

Rei, Saeko, Saya, and even Kohta were all surrounding the luggage, some even still holding onto some of it. It was rather standard stuff from clothes to food, nothing too special. It was obvious to Naruto at least that the majority of the group he traveled with at the school was prepping to leave for some utterly ridiculous reason. At least in his opinion.

Saito was sitting off to the side beside Ayane, with that plastic machine still on his lap as he scanned over the screen it had. He seemed rather uncaring about the entire situation. Although Naruto silently reminded himself to find out just exactly what Saito was doing. It was curious to say the least.

Then Jin and the girl he had been with were standing by the stairs. Naruto noted that Jin once again was carrying the crossbow. However instead of retrieving that from him, Naruto felt he had more important things to deal with.

"Rescuing the little girl made too much noise, we have to get out of here. We thought you would need help." Saya said with conviction as she tied her hair with one hand, grabbing a piece of luggage with the other to be loaded.

Naruto's lips formed a thin line behind his mask. "Funny... I told you all to go inside, and go to bed. And I didn't need help, I brought them both back safe and sound." Naruto drawled as he clenched and unclenched his fist. He didn't care if it was from frustration, or just to retain the feeling in his hand. Or perhaps he was simply remembering himself punching the brown haired boy in the eye.

Saya spared Naruto a glance as she hefted a suitcase up and tossed it into the trunk, "We still need to get out of here. It's not safe." she tried to say in a commanding tone.

Naruto's jaw tightened, "Stop loading things into the vehicle. We aren't going anywhere." Naruto commented as he unclipped and pulled off the mask from his face, palming it in his hand. He then shortly proceeded to make his way to sit down at the bottom of the stair steps.

Saya developed a glare as she turned to Naruto, "You don't get it do you?" she asked in a yell to Naruto's form. "We are in danger, we can't stay here. Those _things_ are piling up on the streets."

Naruto snorted, he could kill those _things_ over the course of the night without being touched. He almost wished he was back in the shinobi world, where there was more of a challenge. The challenges this world faced were pretty pathetic in contrast to armies of unkillable ninja, The Third Invincible Raikage as Naruto liked to call him, even Pein taking on an entire shinobi village by himself.

These _things_ were less dangerous than a pack of wolves as far as he was concerned. At least wolves employed tactics, and moved quickly. These _things_ moved slower than crawling children in most situations, and only followed sound. Although Naruto would admit that they may be physically strong in close combat. He personally reasoned the reason for that was likely that the area of the brain that registered pain had shut off, and as such they were practically willing to kill themselves and their muscles and bones to score a kill. It was almost akin to a shinobi throwing caution to the wind as they open up the eight gates of chakra.

However that didn't stop them from being virtually harmless to a shinobi as long as no one else got in his way. Although he absently abhorred the day where he would be fighting and every ally he has beside him starts making a loud racket instead of dealing with the situation with any level of shinobi skill or intelligence.

"I'll take care of them then. After becoming _leader_..." he snorted once again at that thought. They voted him leader, and then never followed him. "All I have ever asked was for people to just listen to me, and follow the simple orders I have given." Naruto grimaced at this thought and silently wished he was back in the middle of the horrors of war. He almost felt he was babysitting with how he had to explain himself seemingly all of the time.

"Don't leave the house..." Naruto began as he shot a pointed look at Takashi before turning his attention, "Don't hold the crossbow..." Naruto followed with an annoyed gaze. Jin sheepishly adjusted the crossbow a bit as he looked as if he was going to take it off. "Go inside and sleep..." Naruto drawled finally turning to the group of females outside.

"Do you want me to lead or not?" Naruto finally asked with a frustrated glance. "Because trust me, I would not be upset if you all decided to leave and not listen to me."

Naruto gazed around the group, all of their faces contorting into different emotions. All different emotions he didn't really care all that much about. The only person he really felt obligated to was Ayane. Then to a lesser extent would be Rei as the two of them had gotten rather close.

The tense silence that was following was well... tense. Everyone seemed to be weighing their own options in their heads. But truthfully, they didn't have the time to be doing so.

"Well?" Naruto asked in annoyance.

"We should go, its not safe here." Saya reaffirmed her opinion on the situation using her own intellect. Takashi nursing his eye with his cupped hand, the young girl, and sadly even Rei seemed to follow suit with that opinion shortly after Takashi walked there. Rei however spoke out as she saw the flash of emotion cross over Naruto's face.

"Saya is right. There are too many out there. This place will probably be overrun by the morning. I think that this is the best decision." she said out loud, but it was quite evident that it was a bit more personal as her gaze stayed strictly on Naruto.

That didn't stop a frown from appearing on his face as he took it as a more personal stab. '_Does she really think I would let any harm come to her... to anyone?'_ He thought trying his best to fight down the sad feeling that flooded him.

However that didn't last long as Ayane was quick to stand up following the statement, and stand right at Naruto's side, their skin virtually touching with how close she moved beside him. An action that Naruto felt almost the slightest bit comforting as he gently wrapped an arm around Ayane's shoulder and patted her gently in thanks.

Rei flushed red a bit as a whole slew of emotions flew through her suddenly very conscious of which side she was standing on. The extending spear and her clothes suddenly felt very heavy. The bruises on her body, their pain all the more prevalent. It was then that she realized that she hadn't had faith in the one person that she had been forced to trust the most. Yet more importantly? He hadn't let her down once.

"I'm stickin' around here. No way am I going with that idiot." Jin said as he stepped forward, crossbow in hand, the girl following behind him closely.

Naruto shot a look toward the tall teenager vividly remembering a period in time where the closest thing he had to a nick name was _idiot_. He had certainly hoped that the teen hadn't made the mistake of calling Naruto that. Although his mind was quickly put to rest as he saw Jin's gaze pointedly being shot at Takashi. Naruto didn't quite know what to think of an ally not actually there to be on the team, but simply there because he didn't like someone on the other team. That often wasn't the best means of teamwork. It was only when someone had near fanatical reasons to not work with the enemy team that it was truly helpful. Such as Sasuke's situation.

The young brown haired girl that Naruto had saved earlier was rather quick to move in and stand right beside Naruto. It didn't go unnoticed that the girl was acting as if she was a young girl being shown around by an adult as she gently clung to a portion of the blonde's fabric despite him being unmoving.

Naruto also noticed the action and a bit of his frustration faded as he realized that there were others around him that had far more significant reasons to be upset.

Naruto glanced at Saito for a few moments, an action that went relatively unnoticed by the rather absorbed teen. However to the surprise of most around, Saito quickly lost his spotlight. Saeko had stepped into the middle of the two groups effectively pointing out she had yet to choose a side. Despite whatever predetermined notions may have been held against her.

"Naruto-kun, why is it you feel we should stay?" Saeko asked trying her best to play the older, calm mediator for the groups.

"You mean why I am staying, and could care less if a group splits off because they don't want to follow simple directions?" Naruto questioned in an annoyed tone. Not following extremely direct orders gets people killed. He had seen it happen before. If this was how the teens were going to act every time he proposed something, he didn't want them around.

Saeko frowned at Naruto's response. And Naruto would admit he knew why, he was being a bit of an asshole. However as far as he was concerned most of the people around had already made up their minds.

"Oh you mean hypothetically like everyone hasn't already made up their mind?" Naruto asked once again, wincing as he didn't really think before he spoke. Oh yeah, he was definitely being an asshole.

"Many reasons. We have physically injured people. We have emotionally stressed people. We are all about to go on our third day without sleep, except for some of us." Naruto gave a pointed look towards Saya at this note. "When one goes on their third day of sleep, the brain starts telling the body to shut down and collapse so it can go to sleep. You will start hallucinating, dreaming while you are awake. Some with a strong will can press on if they are getting enough food to keep the body active. However I doubt anyone wants to deal with someone perhaps falling asleep in the middle of combat, standing in front of a group of _them._" Naruto finished as he recalled his ANBU training. That had happened to him. But he was training to be an elite ninja. These were just... well kids...

A great deal of tension flooded the air at that bit of knowledge that most did not know about. The idea of falling asleep when fighting against _them_ wasn't very appealing.

Saeko however seemed to get over this bit of information rather quickly as she followed up with, "Naruto-san, what happened with _him_." Saeko said as she gestured to the body of the teenage boy having over the side of the balcony.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he looked at the boy and silently hoped that he suffered when the last bits of life faded from him. He had been tempted to just toss him off the balcony without a rope, and hope the boy survived the landing. Then he could have his screams of pain attract a horde of zombies to be eaten alive.

"What about him?" Naruto said as he looked to the young brown haired girl who was seemingly getting a bit shaken up at the topic of conversation. Naruto gently wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder, something the girl seemed to cling to.

This action didn't serve to help the creeping bit of jealousy that had pooled in Rei's stomach from across the way.

Saeko's eyes narrowed ever slightly at Naruto's response, before she gripped her wooden sword with both hands. "You killed him?" she asked in a dangerously low tone that did not faze Naruto in the slightest.

Naruto held back a snort and his amusement at the purple haired girl thinking she could best him. The truth was she could probably best anyone here in melee combat, so there wasn't much reason for her to think she couldn't best him as well.

"I prefer the term executed." Naruto drawled a bit, and relished in the looks he received from the group. He silently hoped that the group before him wouldn't simply just write him off as a killer... although he was. He would like to see the group go through a 'Look underneath the underneath' lesson. Although he doubted that would happen.

Saeko drew her wooden blade higher at that note, more than prepared to charge and start some sort of battle to defend her comrades from a killer. However before it could escalate, the young brown haired girl stepped forward, with her hands open.

"Stop..." she said in a quiet voice. A voice that was more than loud enough to carry over the silent night. She then turned to look at Naruto silently pleading to not have to continue in order to simply prevent a fight. Although she knew he was one of the few that truly knew what happened.

Naruto crossed his arms across his chest as he raised his eyebrow. He knew exactly what the girl wanted him to do. However his personal feeling was that people have to control their own situation and destiny. He cared about Rei quite a bit despite she was standing on the other team. However outside of her, he had rather weak attachments to the other members of that team.

He respect Kohta quite a deal as the young boy seemed to keep his cool, while at the same time having impressive skill. He even found the weapons in the house.

Takashi, he was personally at odds with the boy. He understood where he may have been coming from emotionally. However it annoyed him to no end that he didn't listen to him. Even if he saved a young girl. He should have at least talked to him about it.

He wasn't the biggest fan of Saya, but truthfully he doubted many were big fans of Saya. The world for them had shifted from peaceful to chaos overnight. Yet the pink haired girl continued to act superior to others based on her grades she gained in school. Was she intelligent? Sure, probably a bit more intelligent than others on a broad scale. However that didn't mean her intelligence was more valued than others. Rei, a police officer's daughter that seemed street smart and a capable spear fighter? Hirano a long ranged expert with a bunch of various bits of knowledge, particularly on military protocol?

Saya reminded him a bit too much of Sakura after they had become genin. Belittling him due to her book intelligence. However not very capable outside of her intelligence where as everyone else was.

Perhaps it was because she reminded him of Sakura, and he just didn't like that. He didn't really know.

Naruto was forced to break his train of thought before he could go over everyone as Jin seemed to take pity on the girl.

"He..." Jin began as he gestured his head to the hanged teen. "He was raping Nana." he then gestured with a nod of a head, quite a deal of shame in his voice. "Naruto came down and saw it, and well..." That was as far as he got as the outcries drowned out his voice.

Naruto noted the girl's name down for later. However the situation seemed to diffuse any division in the house as Saeko lowered her weapon. Saeko had gone up and given the girl a warm hug, similar to the deal she had done not long before with Saya.

The girl fell into tears at that, and the act seemed to strike close to home for everyone, particularly the females present. Naruto even noted that Saito had closed his machine as the scene unfolded. It was the reality that it could have frankly been any girl in the house under that situation that truly blew any heat that was formerly on Naruto away. That was not to say that people had forgotten, just that people had momentarily stopped caring about it.

Naruto frowned as the scene played out before him. He had never been good with expressing emotions, or emotions for other people. Most of the time when he tried, it often just ended up with him projecting his own emotions out onto others. Particularly in the cases of Zabuza or Gaara.

Naruto looked away from the scene, and turned around to the gate. "Make sure everyone gets inside to rest. I'm going to take care of things out front." Naruto said quietly so only the people standing next to him could hear. He just hoped that they would listen to him this time around as he was just moments from being ready to just leave the group to their own devices, and spend his time actually trying to find a way back home.

XXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXX

Naruto huffed in annoyance as he continued the work he had delegated to himself. Work that had formerly been extremely easy earlier in the night had turned into work that was quite frustrating, with actually some level of threat to it. The fact that he was tired and he had already been beyond the wall for over a half hour wasn't helping either.

Personally, Naruto doubted he could even contract whatever disease or sickness these zombie things were passing around. He had been subjected to some of the nastiest of poisons and hadn't broken a sweat. Not that he personally wanted to try getting himself infected though. He really doubted jinchuriki could become sick at all. Perhaps one of the world's sick perks. Everyone hates you during your childhood, so the demons make sure you can have sick days?

Naruto snorted at the sad but amusing thought as he cut down another zombie. A clean cut, right through the head of a dead female. He made note to quickly bend forward and catch the top half of the head by the hair as to make minimal amount of noise as possible. Although it didn't silence everything. It was quiet enough for the zombies not to take notice over their own footsteps.

It was quite interesting he had to admit as he watched _them_ walk along the street. They were like a school of fish that lacked any intelligence. Naruto wasn't entirely sure, but he figured the way the zombies actually moved through the streets was through large groups like this. They then proceed to key in on the sound other zombies walking around, and they follow them. Eventually the sound becomes virtually an unnoticable rhythm for them, and as such any living walking around that made any significant amount of noise would break the pattern, and proceed to be chased.

Naruto mulled over the idea of inserting himself into the middle of a wave of zombies, and falling in step with them and seeing if they noticed. However he quickly realized that the pros didn't outweigh the cons of the situation... no matter how funny it would be.

Naruto hefted the body up by it's clothes and proceeded to fling it backwards onto the wall he had made earlier with a few zombies. He wouldn't quite call the situation theraputic in his exhaustion. However after having been in combat for the past couple years almost constantly, any amount of fighting to break away from what he felt was borderline babysitting was a welcome change.

"Naruto-kun." Naruto heard the voice call out the moment he had turned to get another zombie. He didn't turn around, but was quick to adopt a look of annoyance on his face as he looked up to the sky.

_'Even you... followed orders better Yugao-chan...'_ Naruto thought before looking over his shoulder and asking, "Seriously?" before he stepped over the wall, not too much caring about the sickening crunhing and squishing sounds from the pile.

It was Busujima Saeko, now surprisingly dressed in a black shirt that was a bit big on her, as well as some sweat pants. She seemed to not mind how big those were on her either as the seemed to be a temporary solution given that they were tied to stay up with a shoe lace. Although perhaps more surprisingly, she was carrying her wooden sword in one hand, and a small tray of food in the other quite gracefully.

Naruto almost felt a bit bad at how he initially reacted to her presence from beyond the wall he had built. Although that feeling was quickly crushed as he recalled virtually no one listening to him the entire night.

"That for you or me?" Naruto asked getting straight to business. He probably could have asked more politely. However he needed to secure the place, let everyone sleep. And hopefully catch some shut eye of his own perhaps in the early morning.

Saeko frowned heavily at the blonde's attitude. It was obvious that if she didn't have her hands full, she likely would have crossed them. "Both of us." She said with her lips in a thin line. "Come on." She added as she turned and made her way inside the gates.

The small journey the two shared up the ramp as she lead the blonde to the car was in complete silence. She had even taken to setting her sword down to open the boot of the car before Naruto could even get there to be of assistance.

Naruto didn't quite know what he felt about all of this, and what to really make of any of it. Saeko was the closest thing to a ninja this group seemed to have. And while she may be a long shot stretch from being an actual ninja. She thought a bit like one.

Naruto didn't know if she was eating with him here to keep him away from the others. He didn't know if she felt he personally wanted alone time. He didn't know what the significance of eating in the car instead of eating inside was. Given her protective nature it took a moment for Naruto to register that he may be walking into a trap.

But it was then when he got to the boot of the car himself, only to see the girl gently sliding the tray in before crawling in herself that he fought down a frown. Had he really been a ninja so long that the idea of someone simply wanting to spend time with him was such an obscure concept that it was one he could overlook? He didn't spend time with anyone that wasn't on his ANBU team or had particularly unique ties to him like Konan. Naruto wanted to tell himself that '_Some Brotherhoods can't be broken'_ an ideal that had been ingrained into him during ANBU. However that simply didn't explain his former concern. At least not all of it.

Naruto climbed into the car and still gave a bit of a wary stare at Saeko, and then the two containers laid out on the tray in front of her, along with a couple bottled drinks. "So you want to eat with the big mean killer leader eh?" Naruto asked as he situated himself from across from her, trying to bring some humor to the tense situation. At least it was tense in his perspective.

Saeko gave a smile at the light joke, "Yes well I figured you could use something to eat. I imagine it has been quite a taxing day for you and Miyamoto-san both. Although you are still out here working, and since I was already cooking..." she left the thought hanging in the air as she stopped to simply observe the blonde who was no longer wearing a mask.

It was quite a few moments of silence between the two before Naruto raised an eyebrow and asked, "Is there a problem?" It wasn't that he hated the silence. It was more the fact that there was silence while her arms roamed his body. He had to stop his mind from immediately jumping to the idea of Saeko being a seductress, because he knew that simply wasn't possible.

"You have the strangest eyes..." She voiced her thought out loud before going wide eyed and covering her mouth. "Oh my! I'm sorry! That was rude of me!" she said in a bit of a panic realizing what she had done.

Naruto nearly laughed at the usually polite robotic tone Saeko being reduced to saying something so blunt, he would have thought it was his twelve year old self talking. "It's fine. Frankly I'm surprised most don't really notice them." '_Most in this world anyways_' He added to himself silently.

Saeko seemed to still be recovering from her own embarrassment, but was capable of speaking. "It is probably because people are too busy looking out for _them_ that they aren't really paying that much attention to small details on people that are actually alive."

Naruto smiled lightly at the thought of his eyes being a small deal. The reality is that they were anything but that. He was thankful that Nagato had opted to simply give him those eyes, because Naruto was quite certain he would have chosen to take them by force if he absolutely needed to. The idea of any of their enemies out there becoming "Kakashi of the Rinnegan" was not a fun idea. The safest way to prevent that was to just give himself the Rinnegan.

There was also the small fact that it came with an entire village of people by simply implanting those eyes. No one had actually seen Nagato since what he learned to be the old Akatsuki lead by Yahiko had disbanded upon the defeat of Hanzo. Nagato had taken to becoming "God" of Ame with Konan as his "Angel", although they never saw his face. All Naruto needed to do was to go to Ame, pull off a couple miracles after he learned the basics of the Rinnegan, and then he was pretty much nearly worshipped in that village.

"You didn't have to do this you know?" Naruto said trying his best to be polite, despite his suspicion.

Saeko kept up a smile on her face with a renewed sense of vigor, "Yes but sometimes Naruto-kun, people do things they don't necessarily have to do. But because they want to do them or sometimes they are the right things to do."

Naruto's lips formed a thin line at that. She sounded as if she was trying to make him see some point in her choice of words. "I see, and you learned that where?" Naruto said once again forcing himself to be polite and keep the conversation going.

"My father." Saeko said with almost a sad tone lingering in her voice.

Naruto chose not to directly respond and nodded his head, before reaching to the containers. "Do you mind if we..."

"Oh, by all means, go ahead." Saeko said cutting the blonde off. Although she was obviously just trying to answer his question.

Naruto nodded and looked down at the two containers on the tray. He stared at them for a moment before grabbing the one closest to him, and handing it to Saeko. It was then that he grabbed the one closest to her and brought it to his side.

Saeko raised an eyebrow at the rather obvious action, and looked up hoping to meet the blonde's eyes. However they were currently cast down at the eating utensil.

"Shizuka-sensei's friend, Rika? She seems to only carry forks, and other American eating instruments. Sorry if you aren't used to it." Saeko said genuinely, but her mind was still stuck on the food swap. She knew if she was younger and still learning her manners she probably would have snapped and asked if the blonde wanted to swap forks as well.

Naruto nodded to himself silently as he picked up the fork. It wasn't that he didn't know how to eat with them or anything like that. It was more that he wasn't used to eating with them. For the last couple years unless he was lucky enough to be on a mission into a town, it was usually just ration bars, and often other nasty food in his opinion. Such as powdered eggs, powdered milk, plain oatmeal, plain rice, cheap meat with no flavor, just a lot of plain tasting nutrition. _Nasty_ tasting nutrition if he was to give a more honest opinion.

A lot of the animals in the Elemental nations had been picked clean by shinobi. The balance of nature was kept formerly because there often weren't that many shinobi out and actually having to actively hunt for their food. They could just prep a ten day to a months supply of food in a scroll. However that option became less viable as time went on, numbers thinned, and more shinobi were forced to stay out in the field longer than usual.

"It's fine, I'm just hungry." He said dismissively as he looked up with a smile on his face. He called it his Itachi smile, dubbed after the best actor the Elemental Nations had likely ever seen.

It was only then when Naruto cracked the lid on the food laid out before him that he had a euphoric feeling wash over him. He couldn't even contain his laughter at the dish, as he set it back down on the tray as the smell filled the car.

This however was not standard table manners, so Saeko quickly got on the defensive. _'Is there something wrong with the food?'_ she thought to herself frowning slightly as she cracked open her own lid to silently check for any problems in her meal as the blonde laughed on.

The frown on the purple haired female's face didn't go unnoticed by Naruto, and his bout of laughter was forcibly crushed by his willpower. Although that didn't get rid of the tears of mirth that had formed in his eyes during the process. "I'm sorry." he began still with light chuckles in his voice. "This was my favorite food as a kid, I used to eat it all the time before the invasion and ANBU." Naruto explained as he had just dipped his fork into a plastic container of ramen before it registered what he had just said, and he froze.

_'Walk it off... Walk it off...'_ Naruto told himself as he tried to continue eating without pause, and act as if he hadn't taken the liberty of tasting his own shoe before the meal.

Although Naruto knew he was being far too hopeful in the idea that anything he had just slipped past Saeko.

Saeko meanwhile was silent trying to put meaning to every word the blonde has just spoke. Her eyes had narrowed in concentration as she thought over the statement. _'What does he mean Anbu, invasion? Perhaps he means all of these creatures being an invasion, and Anbu means something? No, that doesn't explain why he said that he ate this when he was a kid. The invasion must have happened a long time ago... but there have been no invasion of anything in Japan in years...'_ during her time amongst her thoughts, she seemingly didn't notice Naruto shifting uncomfortably in the car, making his leave.

"Alright well thank you for the meal Saeko-san, I think it would be best if you get some sleep yourself tonight." Naruto said politely, but at the same time in a bit of a hurry. He allowed the plastic container to clatter on the tray, along with his fork as he quickly darted away before Saeko could say anything. He had quite effectively pulled a "Kakashi" as he left the empty dishes with what was technically his subordinate.

Saeko's head snapped up and her eyes darted to where the blonde had just been, and she quickly followed his voice out of the boot of the car. She quickly scrambled out of the car, dropping her container down in a rather careless fashion as broth splashed onto the tray.

It was only upon getting out of the car did the frown become all the more apparent on her face as she had to witness a top of blonde hair disappear beyond the closing front gate. She had come to get an explanation as to what had gone on surrounding the blonde over the past couple days, and was now forced to leave with even more questions about what happened with the blonde over the course of his entire life.

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Jin stood in the corner of living room leaning against the wall crossbow in hand after he had just assisted in moving all of the furniture around, unfortunately being forced to cooperate with Komuro in the process.

Jin glanced to his side for a mere moment to the short haired girl he had taken the time to get to know despite all of the chaos surrounding them. Yuuki Miku, a complete and utter headstrong hot-head. However she was a passionate one. He had learned that the girl's parents had passed away when she was a child, and she grew up with her grandmother, and an aunt that she felt was more like a sister.

The reason being was the "aunt" was only a couple years older than her, and they had grown up together. The grandmother slaved the two around the house as she fell into alcoholism at the fact that her first daughter had died. So Miku didn't seem to care in the slightest if she got home or not. She didn't explain much more about that. However she was a bit worried about getting to her "Sister" who was a bit of a punk rock chick that worked at a skateboard shop at the local mall.

If Jin was to be perfectly honest, Miku's aunt sounded pretty hot. However there was no way he was going to say that out loud given how his relationship with Miku developed within the past couple days.

Jin looked up from his gaze that lingered on his... _partner_ to stare over at the brown haired girl pulling cushions off one of the couches. His gaze followed her every move for a good minute as she talked to both Saya and Komuro about how they should lay out the couches and cushions.

Somewhere along the line of everyone piling up inside, the group had decided upon everyone staying in a single room. None of them seemed too keen on the idea of there being separate groups in the house. They didn't want there to be a repeat of what had happened earlier in the night.

Jin grimaced at that thought. He should have done more. He stood a good head over pretty much every male in the house, even Shido. The only exception was the blonde who was also a bit tall, but given the fact that he was older than all of the students, it wasn't much of a surprise.

He could have fought off anyone in the theatre down stairs. Yet he didn't. He was too caught up in what _he_ wanted to do that he neglected the help that others actually needed. He was almost sick with himself, and there was no remedy for it. There was no way for him to go up and say "I'm sorry I let you get raped." All he could do is swallow his failure and try and move forward.

"You like her or something?" Miku asked with a frown gracing her features as she crossed her arms.

"Like who?" Jin asked with a roll of the eyes. Before whatever kind of relationship both he and Miku had developed came to pass, she had dragged him into a game of twenty-one questions before hand. It seemed like the game didn't end after sex either.

"Miyamoto." Miku said simply, not looking up to meet the young man's eyes.

Jin quickly averted his gaze realizing he had been staring far longer than he intended. Then add to the fact that Rei's eyes were even occasionally darting his way? That didn't help the matter of believing that he went unnoticed while observing. "No..." he said slowly, but he knew it was unconvincing, quite evidently shown by Miku's face. "It's complicated." Jin said fighting down the bitterness in his voice as he spared Takashi a glance.

"No, surviving this shit hole is complicated." Miku said harshly but quietly as she glanced up to Jin, while not turning fully to face him. "What I just asked you is simply in contrast to what we've been through." she said clenching her jaw.

Jin's chest puffed up in amusement, _'Ain't that the truth?'_ he thought to himself.

He was saved from momentarily answering the question by Saya, "Yuuki-san! The girls are going to be sleeping on this side of the room." She called out from a corner with some cushions and a couple sleeping bags laid out on the floor in a large area.

"Great! I'll be sure to cuddle!" Miku bit back a yell to the pink haired genius, before muttering quietly to her nearby partner, "I hate that girl..."

Jin said nothing in response, he wasn't that huge of a talk about feelings type of person. He was more of a bottle them up inside, and then eventually drop a mentos in kind of guy.

Miku however didn't seem to mind voicing her opinion in the slightest, "She thinks she is hot shit just because she has rich parents, and walks around like some stuck up know it all bitch." she said grinding her teeth together.

Jin however noted that whenever Saya turned to face them as she scanned the room, Miku would put on the most sickeningly fake smile he had ever seen on her face. She would even throw in a disgustingly cheerful wave of the hand for added effect. It didn't help that he knew the girl quite well at this point and knew she was being a bit of a hypocrite.

Miku snorted as Saya seemed to buy it, or at least didn't seem to acknowledge it and turned back to her own task at hand with the other members in the room. "Seriously..." she said with a scoff as she rolled her eyes before turning to Jin. "So whats up with you Mr. Bigshot, how was America?" Miku asked in a haughty manner that had almost the slightest insulting condescending edge to it. However Jin knew it wasn't intentional... more so just how the girl talked.

Before Jin could even get a word in however, it seemed that his staring time had run out as Rei had walked over. "Homura-san? You went to America? Is that where you went during the second semester last year?" Rei asked politely with a smile, not noticing the grimace in his features with the way she addressed him.

"With my Dad." Jin confirmed with a weak smile on his face. For the two of them it was almost as if their encounter on the bus had never happened. '_For now at least_' he added in his head as he glanced over at Komuro.

Rei's surprise seemed to show as did her genuine interest. A large portion of the world revolved, followed, and kept up with things that were going on in America. However that didn't mean that everyone had visited America. That much was evident when she could walk into a Sevenson that was playing Michael Jackson, but the store owner barely knows the slightest bits of english he learned in school.

"Wow what was it like? Where did you go?" Rei asked with a smile.

Jin grimaced, "California... look Rei..." Jin began but was cut off by the girl beside him.

"How about you piss off, he doesn't want to talk to you!" She said as she crossed her arms under her ample chest.

Jin pinched the bridge of his nose while Rei appeared quite insulted at that comment. "What did... Really?" Rei asked turning from Miku to Jin. "What did I do?" she asked with a frown, clearly put off by the girl's comment.

Jin shook his head, "You didn't do anything it's just... probably best that we keep some distance between us Rei."

Rei's fiery temper seemed to rise up from it's dormant status as she put her hands on her hips, "What the hell do you mean it's probably for the best?" she asked harshly, she probably would have shouted if she didn't care about drawing attention to herself. "What the hell is your problem Jin?" she asked pointedly.

Miku off to the side snorted, and mumbled under her breath, "Besides the fact that you nearly broke his ribs with a metal pipe..."

Rei clenched her fists at that, but wouldn't give the girl the satisfaction of actually lashing out at that. "Well?" She asked again to the large silent teen before her.

Jin rose to his full height from his position leaning against the wall. He was a good head taller than practically everyone in the room, and evidently kept his body in rather good shape. He was quite intimidating to look at. "_My problem?_" Jin asked sourly. "You of all people should know what my problem is!" Jin yelled gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. He shot a glare towards Takashi who was now quite aware of the interaction going on, along with everyone else in the room.

Rei however was not intimidated by any man, "I should know?" She snapped, "Well the fact is that I don't know what the hell your problem is! You going to tell me?" she said glaring up to the dyed haired teen.

Jin clenched his jaw shut tight before he shook his head and looked away, "Rei... just go away please..." he said with a huff. With his height he didn't need to look at the girl if he didn't want to. Or so he thought.

"Ow! What the fuck!" he yelled out. Rei had roughly poked the dark bruise that had formed under his shirt from her earlier attack.

"Don't keep and push me away Jin!" She said stubbornly. However despite her stubborn attitude, there was a genuine care in her eyes as she looked at the male in front of her.

Jin rolled his eyes at that and walked out of the room into the kitchen, brushing past Miku on the way. Although Rei didn't seem in the least bit deterred by Jin avoiding her. She was even more than willing to overlook Miku's covert attempt to trip her while she passed by without even sparing a glare.

"Jin stop!" Rei said as he continued walking only to stop at the fridge, and pull it open. Although he didn't say anything. "Quit running from me." she said firmly.

Jin pursed his lips at that as he reached into the frige and grabbed one of the few beers, before opening it in the palm of his hand and taking a swig.

Rei frowned at the teen's actions. "You shouldn't be drinking..." Rei said quietly as Jin finally stopped moving away from her.

Jin snorted at that before taking an exaggerated and long swig of his drink. He cleared his throat lightly after as the feel of a cold alcoholic beverage went down his throat, "Well hopefully your dad will cut me some slack." he said rolling his eyes before leaning against the table in the middle of the kitchen.

Rei sighed as she hopped up onto the table beside where Jin was leaning. "What happened to you." she asked bitterly as she gave a glance to the teen.

Jin bit his tongue stopping the reply he cooked up on the tip of his tongue, and took a pause. "Life happened." he said fighting down his earlier response.

"That isn't an excuse Jin..." Rei said, a sadness creeping into her voice. "We used to be close once. Just last year, we were best friends."

'_Best friends'_ Jin repeated through his mind as he looked down at his beer before taking an extra large gulp of his drink. "Yeah well times change." he said dismissively. This wasn't a conversation he ever wanted to have.

Rei however seemed to perk up at this regardless. "Yes they do, but not without reason Jin. What happened between _us_?" she asked.

"Please, stop it." Jin began as he clenched his eyes shut as memories flowed through him. "There was never an _us_, you made sure of that Rei. You know what the hell happened between us." he spat out before going back to his drink.

Rei looked like she had just been slapped with a leather glove. However she hadn't quite made the jump, "What do you mean? You, Me and Takashi were inseparable. It was always like that. What are you even trying to say? You were... I still consider you my best friend, I always included you everything!" she said trying to make sense of it all.

"My god Rei! Lets not! Alright? This conversation is more than a year overdo. I've moved on. Lets not drag ourselves back down this road." Jin said bitterly as he hopped off the table, and walked up the stairs leaving the girl in silence.

It was a good couple minutes before she got her thoughts and feelings straight before she made her own way to the stairs.

"Rei..." Takashi said from leaning against the doorway. Rei turned to him only to be greeted by the brown haired boy shaking his head. "Leave him be."

"Leave him be. Leave him be. Leave him be! That is what everyone always told me to do. Then he left for more than half a year! And now he wont even talk me Takashi!" Rei said, standing up straight. However her eyes were starting to water quite a bit at that, despite the tought front she was trying to put off.

Takashi frowned as he saw his childhood friend, crush, 'Future wife' in such a mess emotionally. Although there was also a level on understanding as he glanced up the stairs. "Rei... come on." Takashi said as he motioned his head back into the room where everyone decided they would be sleeping.

Rei gave a glare to Takashi, narrowing her eyes stubbornly before she took off up the stairs. "You go." She said defiantly as she made her way up the stairs, leaving Takashi behind.

Rei took a glance around the moment she got to the top of the stairs. Her eyes fell carefully on Saito who was sitting on the bed, leaning against some pillows with his laptop situated right in front of him. Upon the two of them making eye contact, Saito motioned his head into the direction of the balcony.

Rei nodded thankfully to the teen, and didn't say anything. She doubted she could given how utterly horrible the conversation with her former best friend had went. Every footstep she took to the sliding door was painfully heavy. She almost thought that she wouldn't even make it to the door for a moment. She had to tell herself to continue to move one foot in front of the other.

She quietly stepped out onto the balcony. But it wasn't quiet enough in the silence of the night in a dying city.

"Go away..." Jin called out.

Rei sighed as she turned and saw the teen sitting on the rail of the balcony, one leg over the side, one on the inside. In his lap he was the crossbow, tied to a strap around his neck. In his hand he was gently twirling a bolt with his fingers as he looked down upon the blonde shinobi working on the streets. His alcoholic beverage sitting only a foot or so in front of him.

"No. I wont." Rei said stubbornly as she emphasized her statement by planting her feet now.

Jin rolled his eyes, and didn't spare the girl a glance. "Go before I hurt your feelings." he said bluntly, not wanting to deal with the past in this current present.

Rei froze at that, her eyes still a bit watery from the end of her earlier encounter, but she kept her chin up and shook her head.

"Damnit Rei!" Jin called out as he finally spun to her realizing she wasn't leaving from out of the corner of his eye.

"No tell me! The entire year thus far you wont even talk to me. You wont eat lunch with me. You wont even say hi to me in class or the halls. You didn't even keep in touch when you went on your trip! Which I now know was to America of all places. Glad I found out after that slut Miku, that means a lo..." Rei shot off into a rant, until Jin cut her off.

"Oh come off it Rei. You never gave a shit if a girl was around me before." Jin said with a laugh.

"You're right. I didn't. Because I still had _my best friend_!" She said loudly, putting emphasis on her words near the end.

"Whatever." Jin scoffed as he looked away.

"Not whatever! What the hell happened?" Rei asked once again.

Jin pursed his lips as he squeezed the crossbow bolt into the palm of his hand. He thought over his situation rather carefully in his head as his former friend waited quite impatiently tapping her foot.

"What happened?" Jin said slowly as if weighing those words. "What happened was that I was always there for you, but you had your head shoved so far up Komuro's ass that you chose him over me!" Jin finally snapped back giving his answer.

Jin took a deep breath before lowering his tone as he said, "I never wanted to just be your _best friend_ Rei. I liked you. You took Komuro's side. That's my answer. I have more important shit to deal with than pointless bullshit from a year ago."

Rei looked like she had just witnessed a puppy getting stepped on. '_He liked me... as more than a friend?'_ Rei swallowed heavily at that thought. '_I never knew that...'_ she thought as a wave of guilt washed over her.

"I didn't mean for it to be like that." Rei said, no longer caring if her tears were held back now. She wasn't crying heavily by any means, but there was a single tear going down the side of her cheek like a crack on a surface.

Jin shook his head with a shrug as if to say '_well it happened like that.'_

"It's not like I'm with Takashi either though!" She said, finally coming to grips with why she had lost her friend.

Jin chuckled at that as he looked down from the balcony, "What is that supposed to make me feel better? You chose Komuro over me. Just because he is a fucking idiot and didn't end up with you doesn't mean that you don't want to be with him, or him with you."

Rei shook her head, "It's not like that." she said to the boy whom she still considered her best friend. "I've been with Hisashi, and I've been happy Jin. Things with me and Takashi just... didn't work out." she admitted with a frown.

Jin clenched his jaw, "Yeah, its a good thing your single now right? Got all the time in the world as you undoubtedly go try and save _his _mom." he said bitterly.

Rei felt like she had been stabbed with the reminder of her new situation, and absence of Hisashi. However before she could even respond, a voice sounded from behind her.

"Rei... everyone should be getting to sleep. We should go." Takashi said quietly, being mindful of the street below.

"Speak of the idiot." Jin muttered, earning him a glare from Takashi. Rei on the other hand seemed a bit too emotionally exhausted to really care all that much about the comments towards Takashi. Particularly since she now understood why it was going on now.

Takashi shook his head in Jin's direction before he gently wrapped an arm around Rei to escort her away.

"Please do leave." Jin said bitterly, now in a sour mood after the encounter. "Now on top of physical wounds you gave me, I need to lick my past scars as well."

Rei visibly flinched at that comment, and turned back to the taller teen. "Jin! I'm sorry alright!" She pleaded now desperately more than ever wishing things could go back to how they were in the past. Particularly with how things had ended up with Takashi. '_If I could go back...'_ She thought to herself sadly as she looked to the teen with dyed hair.

"Just go with your boyfriend and leave me alone." He groaned out as he grabbed what little remained of his beer.

Rei looked shocked at the comment before she realized she had willingly let Takashi wrap his arm around her. She straightened up and removed the boy's arm from around her. While it typically was more than welcome. Now was not one of those times. "I think that is my clue to leave." She said quietly as she made her way back inside.

Takashi however remained behind for a few seconds to quietly speak while Rei was out of earshot. "That wasn't right Jin. This is between you and me, we both agreed it wasn't her fault." Takashi said firmly as he looked at his former friend.

"Yeah well I agreed to that before you spat in my face three times in a row." Jin said not bothering to look at the shorter teen.

Takashi scoffed at that response, "You've changed." he said simply with a shake of the head.

Jin shrugged, still refusing to even look Takashi in the eye. "Life does that." he said quietly, a lot of his former anger fading.

Takashi could only shake his head once again as he stepped into the house.

Jin gave a heavy sigh with the end of the encounter. He looked down carefully at the crossbow in his hands, before looking down to the street below.

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Alright, slightly late I guess from normal. As I said was at a funeral. This chapter however is way fucking longer than I would have liked. So anyways you get some insight on Jin as well as some more interaction with the cast. As I am sure you are all seeing, Naruto's patience is waning thin and he is very tired. So that will play a role in the coming chapters.

A lot of people asked about the rape in the previous chapter. I answered those that directly asked and seemed slightly offended by it. However those that didn't ask, but were curious? Bottom line for me. In order to make a good story, it isn't about the characters, it isn't about the abilities they hold, it isn't even about the plot. The first, and most important thing is simply making the world they are in believable. If people can't believe the environment you craft for them? They won't believe the things you put into the environment around them.

It is the same thing for danger in a story. You know how you pick up a fan fiction story, and then you automatically know Naruto is never going to die because he has the plot shield? Then why be nervous when he gets into trouble? Why be worried when he has one on one battles? It is the same principal. If people can't believe Naruto is in legitimate danger. Or that they believe Naruto is too powerful to be in danger at that moment? They won't put much stock in the fight because they already know he is going to make it.

So death, rape, people turning on others. Etc etc etc. There is a reason that it is called a "Zombie Apocalypse". It may have initially started with zombies. However it became an apocalypse. While not religious myself, anyone that has read the bible will know of the Four Horsemen. The concept of chaos and destruction bringing apart the end of the world is not simply going to happen because of a few slow moving dead guys. It is going to happen due to the crazies that believe what they want to believe because the world has gone to shit around them, and as such they forego their morales.

The very crude reality of the situation to anyone reading this story is that... rape? Rape was in Highschool of the Dead. Just because the act wasn't fully performed didn't mean even the original authors of the story didn't know it was prevalent. The fact that it never happened to the main characters didn't mean it wasn't happening somewhere else in the world. Do you honestly think everyone on Shido's bus was some sex crazed fanatic? Unlikely. Do you believe they became sex crazed fanatics so they didn't get kicked off the bus in the middle of a horde of zombies? That is a bit more likely.

**Anyways you now get a glimpse at a couple of the OCs in a bit bigger detail, particularly Jin. I asked you all how you felt about them earlier, and now with more information given. I am asking again. How do you feel about the OCs with the little bit that you know of them now? Good? Bad? Let me hear how you feel, and just give your honest opinion. I'm just trying to make them good characters.**


	10. What if the Storm Ends?

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead.

Note: There is a long AN at the bottom. So don't go too crazy. This chapter content wise is about 7000-7500 words.

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**Seven Hours Later**

"What do you mean you just let them go!" Rei yelled in a panic as the group was gathered in the official bedroom of the house. The group was spread out effectively across the room, but there was a tense silence that unified everyone.

Saito for once had closed his laptop, even though it remained in his lap. He had positioned himself at the head of the bed, a calculating gaze being shot to the outside balcony.

Shido and the girl that had been assisting him downstairs were sitting at the foot of the bed. In front of the duo was Shizuka, who had opted to sit in a chair backwards as she applied and and all medical knowledge she could to the former teacher's wounds. Although in light of the man's neglect, she seriously wished she had a cold enough heart to simply neglect a person that was injured.

Ayane leaned against the closed glass door that lead out to the balcony. Her eyes were closed as she gently turned her head every so often as if she was hearing a far away, or very quiet noise.

Miku had situated herself in the corner of the room in a new set of clothes that she undoubtedly "borrowed without asking" under "Rika's hospitality". It was a bit excessive considering everyone was able to get their clothes washed. She apparently just didn't appreciate her school uniform.

She sat with one leg over the other in a very short black skirt that put that school regulations skirt to shame. She had opted for wearing tight fancy red top as well, that seemed to match the under garments she was far too keen to show off earlier. She sat with a confident air about her as her skirt rose up high on her leg letting her bask in her sex appeal, silently enjoying the few glances she would raise from Saito, Takashi, and the shorter boy Kohta. That wasn't to say that she personally would have gotten with either of them if the opportunity arose. However she... just like anyone else... had her needs.

"Rei calm down, she didn't have much of a choice." Takashi tried to reason with his friend as he put a calming hand on the girl's shoulder. An action that she dutifully ignored.

"Of course she had a choice! She should have stopped him! She should have stopped both of them, but she just let them leave!" Rei yelled, causing many in the group to be thankful that the doors and windows of the house were closed. It was also a bit painful to watch Rei's outbursts for everyone as a group. Two members of their group were missing, and evidently two members Rei cared about. It was a bit of a stressful reminder of what many may encounter upon reaching their own houses.

"What would you have done then!" Saeko said loudly, raising her wooden blade at Rei from her position at the stairs. "Pressed on against an armed opponent? He aimed a crossbow at me. Would you have joined him, and followed them both? Abandon everyone here Miyamoto-san?" Saeko said coldly, a fierce gaze in her eyes.

Rei clenched her jaw and her fists on that note. She knew the truth. The truth was that only an idiot would try and do either of those things. Run away from the larger more secure group? Run away from the group with guns for whatever reason. But that was simply the truth for the average person.

Rei on the other hand? She put up a convincing lie, "No I wouldn't..." she said through her teeth. Although she honestly didn't know what she would have done.

Saya sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose before pushing up her glasses. "We have been at this for over an hour. Arguing isn't going to bring Homura or Uzumaki back." she said bitterly before turning to Shizuka.

"Shizuka-sensei, did you try and call your friend yet?" Saya asked pointedly as she gazed toward the doctor working on the injured Shido.

"Oh no I have been busy with Shido-san." she said quietly, suddenly wondering if that was the wrong thing to focus on at this given time. She wasn't much of a leader, she could only focus on one thing at a time.

"If she is military or whatever like you say, it would be best to get in contact with her now. My house is close by just on the other side of the river. You should tell her we will be going there." Saya said trying her best to assert herself as some form of leader amongst the chaos that was the group. Shizuka however didn't need to be told twice to follow a direction as she promptly went into another room, presumably to get a phone.

In her opinion, Rei and Saeko had been at each other's throats the entire morning since they woke up. Shizuka had been wrapped up with Shido the entire morning, however she seriously doubted the blonde medic could even take the lead if she wanted to. Nana had huddled herself up with Kohta since the short gun freak was arguably the safest and the most dangerous person in the house, particularly since Saeko was in an argument.

Rei and Saeko were still stuck in a deadly stare off. Rei had since drawn a small familiar metal pipe from a rather hidden pocket on the Anbu uniform to match against Saeko's wooden blade.

Saya shook her head before glancing over to Takashi. He had a hand on Rei's shoulder, looking as if he was trying to calm the girl down. However Saya knew Takashi better than that. She had observed the boy since they were childhood friends. Only to take an even greater interest in the last year after his fallout with Jin and his situation with Rei blowing up in his face.

No. While she was trying to calm the girl down, he had a distant look in his eyes that just told her the boy's heart wasn't fully in his actions. Not like how it used to be with the brown haired teen.

Saya idly looked over through the glass door to the balcony as she recalled the wall of dead zombies she had witnessed when she had woken up. The blonde must have killed and stacked at least a hundred zombies into a wall, completely blocking side of the street east of them from the dead. And given the fact that most were coming from the bridge to the east of them, and not from the west? It made their house pretty safe. She probably would have commended the blonde if he were around.

But it wasn't the wall that was bothering Takashi. No that thought was ridiculous. She knew Ryo personally, the boy's family was his life. She knew that Ryo's death had effected Takashi quite a deal more than he would even care to admit. The boy had died and came back only to be killed again by Takashi's hand. The fact that the boy was part of the foundations of the wall outside, the fact that he couldn't get a proper burial? That was likely what weighed on Takashi's mind.

Saya stuck up her nose at that. If everyone was going to break down into chaos around her, she wasn't going to become a part of it.

"Saito, Uzumaki and Homura left a note before they left addressed to you. It had an address on it, and said they would be back by night time tonight. Do you know where they went? Can we see if they are close by?" Saya asked, gently removing her glasses to clean them lightly on her shirt.

Saito seemed to straighten up at the fact that he was addressed. He often kept to himself and took care of his own personal business and things on his computer. He didn't like being in the spotlight, so naturally being called upon wasn't something he was entirely fond of. "They are too far away," he said simply. "They are on the other side of the bridge we crossed the other day, poorer areas of town."

Rei seemed to perk up at that before anyone before quickly become dejected as she weighed the words of the entire statement. She had a feeling she knew where they went. But now knowing how far they were from them... she was in a pretty poor mood.

Oddly enough to most that had been observing, Miku also seemed to perk up a bit at that. "Hey Map Quest, are they around the Sevenson, Bar, and Gas station?" Miku asked rudely, not caring about her given nickname for the rather nerdy teen.

Saito quickly shot a glare to the short haired beauty. '_Her beauty is only skin deep'_ he told himself silently. "No." he said bluntly not really thinking all that much about what the girl asked.

Miku narrowed her eyes before huffing and falling back into her seat with her arms crossed over her ample chest.

Saya shook her head as she observed the group, allowing her own thoughts to flow through her at a rapid pace. To say the entire matter with Uzumaki and Homura was strange would be an understatement. They had been in that area across the bridge just the other day, why hadn't they stopped? "Then given their distance, I think this would be a good time to evaluate what we should do as a group. I don't believe staying her any longer is in our best interests." Saya said attracting the attention of others in the room. She shrugged her shoulders lightly and continued, "I think it should also be worth noting that I don't feel Uzumaki is currently in the best state of mind to lead the group." Saya said, adjusting her glasses.

Miku snorted, "And you are pinky?" she muttered to herself as she rolled her eyes.

Saya shot the girl a glare at the comment, but continued none the less with the attention on her. "Many of us witnessed Uzumaki's actions last night. Whether they be downstairs, on the balcony, or even when he attacked Komuro. I just can't honestly say he has our best interests or safety at heart." Saya said confidently letting the statement sink in with everyone.

Saito shook his head from his seated position, "I don't understand why you intend to bring this up now Takagi-san. This was brought up just last night as to why we decided to stay here. We all decided to follow Naruto."

Saya got an irritated look, "Yes we decided to follow the blonde, and now look? Where is he? He ditched us with Homura, and ran off to do god knows what. Homura even threatened Busujima-san!"

Saito frowned at that note. He trusted the blonde who saved his life, and frankly he owed the blonde his life. However that wouldn't win him any points when trying to make an argument to continue to follow the blonde.

"The note says that they will be back later tonight. The entire night before got blown way out of proportion because no one was on the same page, and wanted to do their own thing. Perhaps we should actually just listen to directions for once?" Saito tried to reason, realizing he had quickly become the one man party in defense of the blonde in his absence.

Saya rolled her eyes, but bit her tongue on an insult on her opinion of the boy's intelligence. "Every second we wait here, is a second that our family members could be dying out there." she spat out, a hint of worry in her voice.

"I get that, I do." Saito began with a shake of his head, removing his laptop from his lap. "But what would you have us do? Take the car and leave Naruto and Jin to die if they get back? Who would hold the group together? If we leave here early and disorganized, not comfortably under a single leader? We could all die." Saito said firmly, a tone that he rarely used as he hated being in the spotlight.

Before Saya could speak up, Miku seemed to want to cut in and add some salt to the wound. "Not to mention Komuro and Pinky junior would have died last night if it weren't for that suicidal blonde. Or the fact that Nana would have had to put up with her terrible _fun_ and _exciting_ experience in full if the blonde hadn't stepped in." Miku said with a wicked smirk.

Nana who was formerly sitting silently beside Kohta seemed to tense heavily at that thought. "Excuse me..." she said softly as her face turned relatively pale before she quickly removed herself from the room and down the stairs, a hand clenching her stomach.

Miku's action seemed to stop any and all conflict that was going about the room, and focused all of the frustration on the girl. However no one said a word for a good few moments as the stood there in silence.

The sound of a door closing then resounded throughout the house.

"What the hell is your problem?" Kohta said in a harsh whisper as he sprung up and stood tall from his position.

"Miku-san that was uncalled for." Saeko followed up having completely dropped her argument with Rei.

Miku snorted at that, "Uncalled for? I just decided to speak the truth _once_ while you all bicker over nothing. Why look at me? The guy that let it all happen is right there." she said nodding her head towards Shido.

It was then that the room fell into a tense silence as their disapproving gazes turned from the short haired beauty and laid upon the former teacher. Not many in the room really liked the man before last night. However given the circumstances of everything that unfolded recently surrounding him, it was safe to say that no one in the room really liked him. At least besides the young brunette that seemed to cater to the young teacher a great deal.

And it was with that thought that a single thought flooded through everyone's mind. _'Why was this man here?'_

Naruto...

Naruto was the only person that really gave the man a chance. Although who could really blame the blonde? Whether people liked the man or not, Shido was a living breathing person. Problems that people had with him weren't necessarily over things he had done in the group. Sure people may not like his character, or they may not like him for things that he had done in the past. Yet... it was a new world they were in now. Would it be safe to say it is a fresh start? Or should people cling to ideas that they had about the wold only days before the 'Z-day' happened?

However luckily the tension in the room seemed to diffuse as Takashi regained his composure and said calmly, "I understand why you may want us to leave Takagi... just as I understand why Saito-san wants us to stay. However we already have been through a lot in the past couple days. People have died... I nearly died because I didn't listen to directions, and I was ill prepared for the circumstances. Truthfully... we keep trying to do what we want to do instead of acting as a team. The only time we actually listened to Naruto-san, and did what he asked was on the walk over here. I believe we should give him a chance." Takashi admitted, which seemed to sway any fluctating votes silently in favor of his own opinion.

Saya sighed heavily at that and shook her head. She truthfully doubted she would ever understand what was going through everyone's heads at this moment. She knew for a fact that at least three of them had family on the other side of the river. Potentially even more people. Why everyone seemed content with following Naruto after he seemingly abandoned the group, she would have no idea.

"Alright. Then I propose we at least get the Hum Vee ready to go so if we need to, we can leave as soon as possible, and then spend the day here searching this house, and the house across the street for anything we can use. If Uzumaki spent all night building that wall, we might as well use the protection it gives to scavenge for things we may be able to use." Saya said trying to find some middle ground with the group, making them at least _think_ of leaving the apartment.

She only proceeded to give a contented sigh when it appeared everyone agreed.

XXXXXXXX

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A purple haired woman lay flat on the roof of a bus near an airport landing strip with a confident yet concentrated look in her eyes.

Beside her sat her loyal partner, squadmate, friend, and brother.

"So the rules from home base still apply right? You miss a shot, I get to massage your breasts?" the man asked with a cheeky grin.

"You know I'm not going to miss." The woman quipped in amusement. '_Okay... a very perverted brother.'_

"Perhaps god will grant me a blessing, Rika." the man said in teasing tone as he wagged his eyebrows a bit to emphasize how 'Serious' he was about the statement.

Rika gave a single laugh at that, as she stared down the scope of her trusted sniper rifle. "Please, don't start that bullshit with me. You even told me your an atheist." she said rolling her eyes before focusing once again on the scope.

The man gave a grin as he rubbed his hand before his mouth to mask his laugh. "Well... I figured with the world going to shit... I might as well go with a more '_As needed' _basis of worship.

Rika gave another chuckle at that as she scoped out her targets, "If you keep making me laugh, I may miss. And why am I doing your job?" she asked in amusement.

"Good, my plan is working. And I figured if you had more to do, the more likely you'll miss." he said light heartedly as he looked off into the distance, ignoring his own equipment.

Rika snorted and muttered a _"Not likely..."_ under her breath. She knew her partner heard her as well by the way he chuckled at her comment.

She fired off a single shot that pierced straight through the skull of a zombie. It slammed right between the monster's eyes, shattering his expensive glasses in two halves. Rika turned around, removing her eyes from the scope to give a rather confident look at her partner.

The man merely shrugged his shoulders and held up his hands in defense, "Yeah... yeah... I know. You're hot shit." he said with a small grin.

Rika's look of confidence turned to one of amused arrogance as she wagged her eyebrows once at her partner. She turned back to the scope quickly, and then with unfound precision let of shot after shot of her rifle. And quickly the numbers of walking dead turned into numbers of _laying dead_.

She stood up after that, having not missed a single shot. She turned to her partner, stetching her arms above her head accentuating her breasts. "Oh... I'd say that was better then just hot shit." she said with a cheeky grin.

Rather comically, her partner looked up to the sky before shaking his head. He grabbed his hat and threw it down to the roof of the car before stepping on it. "OOHHHH! Fuckin' horse shit! See I told you this faith thing was crap, this proves it!"

Rika laughed freely at that. Partially because of the statement, but more so because of her partners conviction behind it. Not to mention she really doubted that of all the things in the world, 'God' would be trying to make a random guy win a bet. "Hey Tajima..." Rika said calmly as she finished stretching and proceeded to massage her breasts.

"Hm?" he prompted as he gave her a careful look.

"I just want you to know that..." she gave her breasts an exagerated squeeze, that actually hurt a bit, but was more than worth her partner's reaction. "You are the reason I'm the only woman on trial as a Seal."

Tajima snorted at that, "Yep completely just because of me. Definitely not the whole female PoW's getting sexually abused. Or the psychological rage that gets induced in men upon seeing a wounded female comrade prompting lack of communication in teams." he listed off things from the top of his head.

Rika shook her head as she unstrapped part of her chest piece. "It's all you." she said gravely tone.

Tajima rolled his eyes. "Right..." he drawled. He took a pause as he watched other zombies on the landing strip slowly but surely make their way in to the airport from the landing zone. He shrugged his shoulders lightly as he played over the purple haired woman's statement. "Alright whatever. We come out here every day. Chances you will miss are high."

Rika smiled lightly, "These targets? My eyes? Not likely." she said confidently as she rolled her head lightly getting a few kinks out.

Tajima scoffed as if suddenly remembering a crucial detail on a field assignment. "Twenty - Eight vision... Rika I want you to know. I've told you before, but that is just disgusting. What were you a test tube baby? Did your parents feed you correctional lenses instead of baby food when you were younger? Thats test subject status. You know a fucking hawk is like twenty - two or something like that right?" he said going off into a bit of a rant that he had been on before.

Rika shook her head with a small smile as she lay back down flat down on the bus. She didn't really need to respond. It was a conversation they had been through already. She was very lucky, and gifted to be born with the eyes, and physical capability to be able to perform at the level needed for her position. So instead of talking about it, she simply opted to wait for a new wave of zombies to be attracted to the sound from her rifle.

However it was then that the phone in her butt pocket began to burst into song.

Tajima gave a cheeky grin as his partner began to sing quietly as she reached behind for her back pocket.

"I'm not askin' for you to fall in love... or some great romance... just be with me... till the feeling's gone..."

"I can get that for you." Tajima said with a grin.

Rika had since closed her eyes while mumbling her ringtone. She cracked one eye open as the notes repeated before rolling her eyes at her partner, "Alright then quickly..."

Tajima looked for a second as if he had just struck gold. However that look quickly turned into one of the realization that it was _fool's gold_. "Oh that's... that's cold." he said as her sat down beside his partner and reached a hand into the woman's back pocket, and withdrawing it with a simple squeeze.

Rika fought down her own laugh at the fact that Tajima having after already removed the phone, opted to reinsert his hand in her back pocket, and palmed her ass. "Nice..." she said with a laugh at how ridiculously bold and ballsy that move was.

Tajima gave a grin, but promptly looked at the phone's screen. "It's a Shizuka Marikawa... or Marikawa Shizuka. I don't know, shit is ass backwards here for me." however to his surprise, before he even completely finished his statement, his partner rapidly scrambled for the phone and opened it with more genuine emotion he had seen in months of being stationed here.

"Shizu-chan?" she exclaimed brightly, and hopefully.

"Ahhh Rika-chan! You're alive!" exclaimed Shizuka on the other end of the line. "Me too!" Rike grinned lightly at that _'Of course you're alive you dummy, you're talking to me.'_ Rika shook her head as she listened to her friend, while gently pushing the button on the phone for speaker so her comrade could hear the conversation.

"We've been through an awful lot." Shizuka finished her statement over the line.

Tajima raised an eyebrow at that before gently mouthing to his friend, '_Oh! So you do have friends.'_ before giving a large grin. An action that only garnered _the finger_ in response.

"Where are you now? My place?" Rika asked as she held her phone in the palm of her hand, and spoke loudly.

"Yeah... We all are," Shizuka said in a slow tone. "Oh but Hirano-kun borrowed some of your weapons."

"What!" both Rika and Tajima yelled in unison.

"Oh my Rika-chan you have company? Hello Rika's friend!" Shizuka said cheerfully on the other end of the line.

"Shizu-chan! You have to get the guns back from this Hirano-kun. Those guns aren't toys, he could seriously get hurt." Rika said quickly.

"I suggest you tell her of a safe place to put them, or teach her how to dismantle them so they can't be fired." Tajima said quietly from over Rika's shoulder.

"Oh don't worry Rika-chan. Hirano-kun knows what he is doing." Shizuka replied light heartedly with a small laugh.

Rika gave a surprised look at that before glancing at her comrade with a tight frown on her lips.

"Are you sure?" Tajima said loudly, cutting in on the conversation.

"Yup!" she proclaimed with her same cheer. "He helped Komuro-kun and Uzumaki-kun rescue Alice-chan on the street below from your balcony with... umm what was it... Shotgun... no no..." Shizuka began to mumble to herself on her end of the line.

Tajima gave Rika a look that plainly asked '_Are you fucking kidding me?'_

Rika waved her hand dismissively, "Probably my SR-25..." she said quietly, which garnered a surprised glance from her partner. Rika then proceeded to pinch the bridge of her nose with a sigh at that train of thought. "This Hirano... he didn't waste all of my," she paused on the tip of her tongue as she was about to say '_rounds_' but opted for simply terms with her friend, "bullets did he?"

Shizuka mulled over her answer as to what would be considered a waste of bullets. "Well Hirano-kun didn't miss." she said on the other end of the line with a finger to her lip.

Rika's eyes went wide at that before turning to her partner.

_"Couldn't have been more then a few shots then."_ Tajima reasoned in a quiet whisper that only Rika would hear.

However Rika on the other hand was brought back to when she was younger and was practicing nearly non-stop with firearms as a child. A key note that she never opted to mention to anyone that couldn't demand the information from her. "How many times did he fire the gun then Shizu-chan?" Rika asked over the line, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Ummm... I lost count after twenty something..." Shizuka said on the other end of the line lost in thought.

Rika however was in a world of her own, no misses over the course of firing that many rounds was impressive... almost disturbingly so. "Oh, how old is Hirano-kun?" Rika asked, suddenly an interest in whatever male companion she was traveling with. Perhaps it was a police officer or former officer. Or maybe some form of gang member. She hoped it wasn't the later though, she didn't particularly want her friend to be in any form of danger.

"Ummm fifteen I think." she said trying to recall what year the boy had said he was in.

Tajima seemed to choke on that number, and gave Rika's butt a good squeeze in the process. Whether that was from the choking, or the good measure... Rika would never know. "That can't be right. Guns are like impossible to get out here. He would never know how to fire one that accurately."

Rika said nothing in response as she pursed her lips at that revelation. "Well how are you doing Shizu-chan? Who are you traveling with?" she asked trying to get her mind off the disturbingly accurate kid.

"A bunch of students from the highschool that I told you that I got a job for as a school nurse." Shizuka said with a bit of pride in her voice. "It's too bad all of this happened..." she said ending her happy moment with a rather sad note.

Rika smiled sadly at that. Tajima only frowned upon seeing the expression on the purple haired woman's face. That wasn't an expression she wore... ever.

"First was Busujima-san, and she saved me in my room. She even ripped my skirt you bought me!" you could tell the blonde woman was rather put out about that fact. Rika only proceeded to smile at her friend's rather innocent heart. "We then met up with Komuro-kun, Hirano-kun, Saya-chan, Rei-chan, Ayane-chan, and Uzumaki-kun." she said fondly.

Rika turned to her partner, and gave a sad smile as she gently removed his hand from her butt pocket before she sat up on the bus. She was thankful that there was no smart ass comment or complaint from her friend on the matter. He merely sat next to her, and listened to the blonde's story.

"So then we eventually escaped from the school. We met up with another group... but... they didn't make it to the bus..." Shizuka said quietly as she recalled the memory of the girl sacrificing herself to be with her highschool boyfriend. "Another group came along when we were getting ready to leave. However one student nearly died in that group as well. However Uzumaki-kun ran out and saved him!" Shizuka exclaimed proudly as she recalled the memory of her blonde leader.

Unbeknowst to everyone. On Shizuka's end of the line, everyone slowly but surely filed their way into the makeshift bedroom Shizuka decided to talk to her friend in, and they quietly listened in on the conversation.

"Shortly after we left, Uzumaki-kun and Rei-san got separated from the group. However we were going to meet up at the bridge. So I drove the bus for almost a full day, but the bridge was blocked off. However luckily, Uzumaki-kun and Rei-san came back. Uzumaki-kun who was voted the leader earlier then lead us off the bus, and lead us to your house."

Rika pursed her lips, and gently turned her head to her partner, and said out loud, "Do you see a pattern here?" her voice carried across the phone.

"Oh what?" Shizuka said in confusion across the line, not realizing it wasn't her being addressed.

"Yeah," Tajima said with a nod. "Shizuka-san? Who exactly is this 'Uzumaki-kun'? Is he another student from the school?"

"Yea-" Shizuka almost replied automatically considering where she had encountered the blonde. However then she quickly chose to correct, "Actually no. He sort of just showed up actually. I don't know why he was there... or why he decided to help us." Shizuka said slowly as she let that thought sink in.

Around the room however there were many eyes locking with one another, all thinking along the same page.

Tajima snorted at that, "Real fuckin war hero." he said a bit dryly.

Rika shot her partner a pointed gaze, "Sounds like the Chief is more like it." she said with a smile. A comment which also gained a smile from Tajima.

"So Rika-chan, are you going to come see me?" Shizuka asked cheerfully as if she was inviting a friend over for dinner.

Rika opened her mouth for a moment before she took a pause, which Tajima noted, "I really want to... and I will Shizu-chan. It's just right now I-"

Rika didn't notice out of the corner of her eye until it was too late. Her partner had since stood up, and his last action was ripping the phone from her hand, and cupping it in his palm and bringing it to his mouth like he was speaking into a radio.

"Hey!" Rika cried out, something which Tajima dutifully ignored.

"Shizuka-san? Don't you worry. I'll make sure that I get Rika to you safe and in time for dinner. You can count on me for that."

Rika was quickly launching herself up to grab the phone. However, Tajima had a bit of a height advantage on her.

"Oh really?" Shizuka's voice cried through the air as Tajima deftly played 'keep away' with his purple haired partner. "That's great! I can't wait to see you Rika-chan! I'll go put your couches back in place!" Shizuka exclaimed happily over the phone, before quickly hanging up to no doubt make sure the couches were all in order.

"Oouf!" Tajima cried out as the phone hung up, and he received a quick jab to the stomach that caused the man to fall over.

Rika gave an annoyed gaze toward her partner on his hands and knees before her. "Now give me my phone you asshole." she said bitterly, now realizing she was going to have to let her no doubt eccentric friend down completely now.

"Thanks for it not being the crotch this time." Tajima said with a laugh, as he rolled back to simply sitting up straight on his knees as he looked towards Rika, squinting his eyes from the sun.

"It can be arranged." Rika quickly said as she opened up her palm for her phone.

Tajima smiled weakly as he gently lifted the phone from his grasp before he looked the woman in the eye. He then grinned and said, "Small price to pay." before violently chucking the phone off the side of the bus, into the now quickly forming group of zombies in the distance.

"What the fuck!" Rika yelled as she followed the phone with her far beyond perfect vision as it sailed through the air before impacting on the ground in two halves.

Rika however was very quick to recover from her shattered phone as she grabbed the front of her partners shift and delivered an impressive right hook to his jaw. "Why the hell did you do that?" now a small deal of panic bleeding into her voice realizing that action could be the undoing of any safety Shizuka may have had. What if she opted to stay at her house while everyone she was traveling with left, and then when Rika would undoubtedly never arrive... Shizuka would be alone.

A cold rage suddenly grew within her as she gazed down on her brother that she had on her grasp. However what only served to make that rage grow brighter was the laughing that Tajima was doing. "What is even funny about this Tajima! This is serious!"

"I know it is!" Tajima said between a small fit of laughter despite the pain in his face, "That is why your face right now! It's so funny!" Tajima said with tears coming into his eyes.

Rika gripped at her _brother_ harder now suddenly for the first time in her life questioning how deep this brotherhood went. "You were a brother, you are supposed to have my back. How could you do that to me?" Rika said not quite believing what her long time friend had just done to her.

"Rika... shut up..." Tajima said, for once with a serious tone to his voice.

Rika closed her mouth at that rare seriousness in her partner's voice. However it didn't make her any less upset with the situation.

"I'm gonna take you to her." Tajima said as he lightly pried off the female's fingers from the front of his shirt.

Rika's eyes went wide at that simple thought that she had overlooked. A thought that had never occurred to her. She had always been taught to serve her country above all else. The idea that she or anyone else in her Seal team would even consider going against that... for anything.

"Oh don't look at me like that." Tajima said with a bit of disgust in his voice as he picked himself up off the floor. "That fucking mopey look doesn't suit you." he said bluntly as he picked up his own rifle he had set down earlier in the day.

"I don't get it... why?" Rika said slowly, now feeling quite guilty as she watched her _brother_ nurse his jaw.

Tajima scoffed at that. "Rika, as much as I have always wanted to fuck you?" he began bluntly, "I care about your happiness more than that. Our team? We're a bunch of no names that got nothin'. All we've ever had on this damn team was each other. But family? Friends? That type of shit is our shoreline. When all other shit goes to hell, when all else fails? That is what guides you home. And trust me, as a person that has _had_ that? You're always tryin' to get home."

Rika stood frozen in place, slightly in awe of the serious and slightly emotional display her _brother_ was showing her.

"We don't got shit." he said honestly. "Just a bunch of fuckin' orphans. We make the perfect team because none of us have anything waiting at home for us. Or anything we did have? We lost. And I don't know how you did it, and frankly I don't care." he said slowly as he picked up his hat, and dusted it off on his leg from when it had been under his boot.

"You have something here... And the world has gone to shit. You'll never forgive yourself if you let this go just because of some fuckin' work. And you know what? More importantly... I'd never forgive you either." Tajima took a deep breath as he looked over the now gathered sea of zombies.

"The Chief says our brotherhood..." he began as he took a look at Rei before saying, "And our little sister. It is all based on family. The only reason it works is because i-"

"If you're not willing to give up everything for it... you've already lost." Rika finished sadly remembering her leader's words.

Tajima's lips turned into a thin line as he nodded his head. "The Chief doesn't tell the story much, and frankly your rather new, so I doubt you ever heard it. That concept the Chief made? A brotherhood? He was on a mission in '05. I'm sure you have heard of it... not many SEAL missions go horribly wrong like Operation Blood Feathers."

Rika went wide eyed at that, "There was only one survivor..." Rika muttered under her breath. "Was that the Chief?" she asked quietly, utterly surprised at the revelation. That mission was the worst losses the SEALS had ever faced. One team on the ground was ambushed and outnumbered heavily, with the enemies having superior cover advantage. An entire team was rapidly cut down, except for one member. Air support attempted to aid the team, and another full team of SEALS and Night Stalkers were taken out in a copter via rocket.

Tajima nodded tensely in the silence of the day. "The Chief's comrades died not only for what they believed in, but they died in order to attempt to save each other, to save their family. He doesn't ever go into detail on the things that happened during the firefight. However you can see it in his eyes that there is nothing that he holds above family. He was the sole survivor of his team. He has no intention of having to write home to families again about the deaths of his brothers."

Rika stood in silence at the revelation of their team leader. "Then you should know I can't go Tajima. If anything, the Chief needs us now more than ever." Rika said as she adjusted her rifle in her grip.

Tajima laughed a bit at that, "I believe I know the Chief better than you do Rika." he said in an amused tone as he looked at his purple haired partner. "You are only an hour out of the city Rika, from family. If you think for a second me or even the Chief are going to let you drag your ass back to the terminal knowing that? You are dumber than blonde. There is a military grade copter just beyond that building." he said with a gesture of the hand. "I'ma ask you to come with me, and I hope your stubborn ass would strap yourself in willingly. I'd hate to have to knock you out, and carry you on my shoulder. That would pain." he said with a grin as he massaged his shoulder.

Rika tightened her jaw, to keep herself from letting a tear loose. She had always considered her team the family she never had. However it was always their job being put before their lives back home. The fact that Tajima, someone else... the fact that he was putting his work, his life behind him? Just so she could have some sembelance of one with the people she cared about?

Rika shook her head as she leaned forward and gave her _brother_ a hug. "Thank you." she muttered, a tear threatening to spill from her eye.

"Oh cryin' on me now eh Rika? You know if you wanted to give me an unbelievable story to tell the rest of the boys? The least you could have done was let me have sex with you." Tajima said with a laugh.

Rika gently pinched her team member in the side, causing him to jump a bit with a hiss. "Shut up..." Rika said quietly as she closed her eyes, and hugged her partner. "You're ruining the moment."

Tajima snorted, "Moment?" he asked, "You're not going soft and emotional on me now are you Rika? No pregnant women on military copter's, its policy."

Rika fought down a laugh, as she gave a light jab to her friend's ribs.

Tajima winced, but only proceeded to roll his eyes. "If you are going to be getting my shirt all wet, I damn well better at least be getting to second base." he said as he promptly palmed his partners ass with a hand, while holding her close with another.

Rika shook her head with a sigh, not willing to try and hurt her comrade further. "You're an asshole." she said quietly, savoring whatever was left of the small moment she had with her partner.

Tajima smiled and ran a hand into the woman's hair before giving her a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Huh..." he commented quietly. "And here I thought I was your cornerstone?" he finished with a smile.

Rika smiled lightly at her older partner. "You're both." she corrected as she relaxed in her partner's hold.

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This is a long AN. It answers questions. Asks others. You don't have to read it if you don't want to. I just don't want to hear QQ over it's length after I have given you the option to simply skip past it. It just explains my reasoning for things lately such as the OCs, some insight into how Takashi will develop, some insight into Shido, Rika's change in occupation. I will **Bold** the topics for people who just want to read a certain subject.

Been just trying to relax so this chapter is a bit late as far as I'm concerned. However I will probably start posting slower as I start to analyze how to go about this story.

**So first off Rika**. I am simply going to say I changed her occupation. (From SAT to Navy Seal). Why? Because her character archetype doesn't really change. However I know more about the Navy Seals where as I know nothing about SAT. And considering there isn't much about her character in the first place? I'm pretty much free to do what I want with her. All will be explained in time.

Some people liked the brief surface bit you got to see of Jin. However at the same time quite a few people did not. So I don't really know how I am going to approach the chapter in the near future. I decided to split this chapter in half once again, and probably will have more dragged out chapters in the future. A lot of people were annoyed at how I was putting focus on OCs more so than the original cast. So I have gone back and looked over that once again to try and decide how I want to go about doing things.

As for the OCs more specifically though as some people aren't entirely understanding this(even PMing me about it). The "OCs" are all secondary characters from the actual series.

**Jin= Tsunoda.** In regards to him specifically since a everyone has seen a fair bit of him? The reason he seems so close to the cast is because whenever I take a character, if they have pre-existing qualities? I force myself to expand on them. So you will see that. And you actually have seen that as well. He seems to outright hate Komuro on the bus, to the point of not wanting to be anywhere around him. However that isn't explained in the series, and it is doubtful that any of them were crazy at that point. So I went ahead and worked with that and tried my best to make him a very real character. I do believe most people have been in a situation where the liked a girl or a guy quite a bit, but they only saw you as a friend.

Yuuki Miku

Kawamoto= Nana

Saito obviously the unnamed student left for dead.

The only OC prevalent in the story is Ayane.

Figured I'd clear that up.

Anyways I suppose there is one thing I feel that from a writers standpoint really needs to be said to everyone reading. And it pertains to a large reason why Highschool of the Dead characters aren't being touched on as much at present point. Aside from what I've mentioned(They all get expanded on later). The reason almost every character in Highschool of the Dead got expanded on in the actual series was through the presence of Takashi. The protagonist of the story.

And that brings me to the issue.

**Takashi** has virtually no character when you really look at him. However it is really hard to realize that until you look at him objectively. He is by all means just a teenager. There is nothing really special about him. He is supposed to be the proxy to the audience, the character whose shoes the reader fills. As such you will note that Takashi has very little problems as a character aside from a leader role being thrusted upon him. He doesn't have any special skills like any of the rest of the cast. He just has guts. You can note how the story was almost turning into a harem situation for Takashi with him having not only Rei wrapped around his finger, but Saeko as well. Even Saya was wrapped up in him, although that started to wane off at the mall/police station arc.

So now that everything is essentially not seen through Takashi's eyes? I have to essentially build his character from the ground up on what I already know about him. Then by extension those close to him can be built upon, ex: Saya, or Rei, or arguably even Saeko. However right now Takashi is one of my main focuses on developing into a full character before proceeding forward. This doesn't necessarily mean that it is always going to be directly conventional story telling. (Perhaps its Naruto's perspective, or Rei's, or Jin's, or Saya's. Perhaps I may even use Morita, Takashi's friend from school in a flashback. However it has yet to be Takashi himself.)

Anyways enough trying to justify what I'm doing. I am merely trying to give some insight while at the same time trying to understand what exactly I want to do in the next few chapters(outside of the directly plot related actions that need to happen.)

**Now a couple question replies.**

**"Naruto seems overly cruel..."**

Perhaps a bit. He is more frustrated than anything. Imagine yourself in his shoes. Back home everyone he has ever loved and cared about is potentially dying. His family, his friends, everyone. Then he finds himself saddled with Ayane, which he is willing to deal with, but then he finds a group in help. Naturally he could have just left them, but he didn't upon seeing Shido's actions. So now he feels like he is obligated to help these people. However he is frustrated. He will tell them not to do something, and they will go out of their way to ignore him when he is just trying to help. By all means if he simply didn't care, he could just up and leave and let them do it themselves.

For example if you told a person not to jump off a bridge because they may hurt themselves, they ignore you and do it anyway, would you really want to help them when the person is essentially a stranger? Perhaps you may. However that may get crushed under the fact that you feel they are complete idiots and specifically didn't listen to you to spite you. That is Naruto's situation.

x

**"Absence of Likeable characters - Character being Naive."**

This essentially summed up Highschool of the Dead in most cases though. A running theme with the series is they are a group of people thrown into an adult situation, but they are actually teenagers. So you have Saeko on one hand trying to make an adult decision by saying they don't have the means to help people. Yet then you have Takashi with his teenage spirit wanting to do the right thing. You have Saya saying that it would be logical for their group to split up, and gave reasons as to why. Then you have Takashi give a rather emotional speech as to why they should stick together. Even if it isn't the most logical thing to do at the time.

They are likable at times, and not at other times. They are naive at times and knowledgable at others. They are teenagers that are forced to become adults. They are logical at times, and passionate, willful and headstrong at others.

That is Highschool of the Dead. (And it applies to any and all characters in this story, OC or not).

X

"**Teenage fucking romance... I thought the OCs would be interesting but now there is no point...**"

Is this seriously an issue or a surprise given the series? The entire series is based upon borderline romantic interactions between the characters while trying to survive...

X

**"I find it disturbing you find redeeming qualities in Shido..."** "Keeping Shido alive makes the story inconsistent."

I didn't say I found redeeming qualities. If I did? Wrong choice of words. I meant to say Shido is one of the most complete characters in the series, and you know why he does what he does. He is essentially Anko of the Highschool of the Dead series... just a bit more twisted.

He was a child always trying to please his father, and wanted to take up the family business. However one day his father cast him out and turned his back on him opting to give his half brother the throne to all of his Father's riches. Something he strived for his entire life. So he grew bitter and cold, and followed his father from that point on only to one day strike at him from the shadows for his betrayal. He became twisted(encouraging boys to bully kids like Hirano), manipulative(Holding Rei back a year on the whim of his father, and how he treats the students on the bus), and cold(kills a student in cold blood during their escape from the school instead of trying to help him).

I'd dare anyone to find a more complete character from the series.

As for consistency? Shido was having sexual interaction with a willing participant. Jin was having sex with a willing participant. Nana was being raped.

Naruto by no means likes Shido. However it was obvious who was most in the wrong at that moment in his eyes. Can you say Shido's inaction was wrong as well? Sure. However you don't bring a rapist in court alongside someone who may or may not have noticed someone being raped and proceed to judge them equally as rapists. You just don't do that. Shido is by all means walking on thin ice. And Naruto doesn't like him. He beat the man up pretty bad. However bottom line there is really more pressing matters to deal with than someones questionable morale compass.

Naruto has been thinking of killing Shido on three conditions. If Shido was trying to kill him. Or if Shido was trying to become leader and rise up and gain control. Or finally if Shido was trying to get someone else killed. He has told himself this, and he will honor this. However Shido's very questionable ethics never come into play with that train of thought. Is someone being a bad person grounds for executing them? For example, Hitler is dubbed as a charismatic man, and in most areas of the world looked upon as "Evil". However people that served under Hitler said he was just like an everyday man. He had his good points and his bad points.

**Saeko**: See a lot of people like to overlook this when looking on the series. Shido was cruel we know this. However Saeko nearly beat a man to death, while she knew she was already superiorly armed and skilled. Then to top that all off, she enjoyed it. Are we to give Saeko a free pass on her darkness because she is a woman? Because she is hot? Saeko was willing to leave people outside to fend for themselves, and died. Women and children fall under this category. Shall we put Saeko to death as well?

"Well thats different..."

Not much.


	11. You Always Were a Bad Judge of Character

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead.

Note: Focus on Naruto is in the next few chapters. This one, not so much.

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**Four Hours Earlier**

"I hope that wherever you plan on going, you aren't planning to take that with you." Naruto spoke out into the wind as he completed the now practiced motion of decapitating a walking corpse, before adding it to the wall.

Jin froze having barely just stepped out of the gate with the crossbow in hand. '_How the hell did he even notice me? I'm not even making a sound.' _Jin asked himself silently as he clutched the crossbow a bit closer to his chest. "I have to go take care of some things." Jin said firmly, "Please don't get in my way." he finished as he hoisted the crossbow.

Naruto stood tall at that action, and glanced over his shoulder to take a look at the teen. "Put that down before you hurt someone. Go get some sleep." he said in a dry and bored tone.

Jin stepped out a few feet to the point where he was in the middle of the street. "I can't do that," he said with conviction in his voice, all the while aiming his weapon at Naruto's exposed back.

"I'm not in the mood to deal with any other bullshit tonight _kid_, now go inside." Naruto ground out bitterly, not entirely on board with the idea of going on to the other side of the wall with the teen walking away with one of the group's few weapons. It had been no more than an hour, possibly two since he parted ways with Saeko.

"Please. I don't want to threaten you, or hurt you. However if I have to, then I will." Jin said once again as he raised and aimed the crossbow, bracing himself for any potential action.

Naruto closed his eyes with a heavy sigh weighing his options. On one hand, rendering the teen unconscious would probably not put him in the best of light with the group. Although on the other hand... there wasn't much reason he should care if the group liked him or not. In truth, as he had time to think stacking bodies outside, he had to wonder if sticking with the group was really worth it.

He knew he wouldn't go back on his word to Kimeko about Ayane. However that didn't really leave him with much tying him down to the traveling party he was with otherwise.

There was a feeling he got in his gut every time he thought about his situation. It was a sick one. A feeling, an instinctual feeling that told you that you would be better off without the people that he was surrounded with. That perhaps if he was on his own he may have already found a way home, or at least steps to finding a way home. Far better than his current progress, which was nothing.

Yet it was those thoughts he had to cast out of his mind, as it was that train of thought that lead Sasuke away from Konoha.

However Naruto was quick to realize that in his lost train of thought, the teen had run off in some direction with the crossbow. "Ugh... damnit." Naruto groaned to himself as he looked around the surrounding area for any immediate sight of the teen. It was only in his failure to spot that teen that he pinched the bridge of his nose silently cursing any and all gods that put this fate upon him.

Naruto glanced up to the balcony carefully scanning it, before reassuring himself that no one was on the balcony. He turned away from the apartment, and leaped onto the nearest house across the way.

He would get to the bottom of Jin's apparently suicidal tendencies. And then promptly ban him from ever using any form of weapon for the remainder of their trip. He wasn't going to have irresponsible emotional driven teens on his team.

Naruto grimaced as he reached the top of the near by roof at how his own thoughts sounded. That honestly sounded a great deal like him when he was younger. Naruto with a heavy breath cast away the stray thought before proceeding on with his game of fox and rabbit with Jin.

However unknown to Naruto's retreating form, he didn't realize that his actions just then had prompted his own game of fox and rabbit to begin with a certain purple haired warrior who had just stepped onto the balcony.

_He would be the rabbit._

XXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXX

**Present Time**

The room the group was in was warm and filled with light. The cosy environment of the heavily decorated house was a nice contrast from Rika's almost spartan home across the street.

The room the majority of the group was currently in was the living room. It had a nice television that Rei had turned on to one of the few news networks still running before leaving the room. The group may have wanted to sit down and relax playing a bit with the gaming system hooked up to the television. However they all knew that the current moment was neither the time nor the place for such things.

The walls were decorated with art, while not expensive added a nice personality to the room and told a lot about the people who lived in the house before hand. Some of the art even appeared to be home made.

The brown wooden coffee table had numerous cup stains, and even some different colored paint stains that had long since dripped down onto the rather extravagant carpet below. The blinds on the windows however were shut tight. Whoever had been living there certainly didn't like the daylight bleeding into the house. Some windows even were blacked out with plastic garbage bags. Perhaps whoever lived there before may have had some sort of night job.

"Has anyone found anything?" Saya called out as she stepped into the room with Komuro, and Shizuka following shortly behind her. Komuro was armed with a bloodied baseball bat, while Shizuka was armed with her distracted personality.

"Not much that we could carry around effectively." was Saito's calm reply as he tossed a hand held box onto the small wooden table with a loud crack, which caused a few people in the room to jump at that. "I just found some batteries." he said in response to all of the sharp glances he was getting from the noise he made.

Saya looked down at the batteries, "Where? Are there any more?" she honestly doubted that batteries would ever hold much use at least for a few weeks. And she prayed that whatever was happening around the world at least wouldn't be an issue for her after a few weeks.

Saito shrugged at that, "Doubt it." he said in a dull voice. "They were for the controllers for the gaming system, they sat right next to the television. If they had more, I imagine they would be in a drawer somewhere." Saito said standing up straight.

Saya sighed heavily as she looked down on the batteries. '_That was a really low amount of stuff for searching an entire house...'_ she thought to herself with a frown on her face. "If that is all we really found, then we should probably just move on to the next house as this one isn't likely to have much. They don't have that many electronics outside of the television and the gaming system in this room. A lot of art, but there's no use for that now."

Saito nodded, mostly to himself. He had come to that conclusion himself already when he attempted to ping a wireless network with his cell phone upon arriving in the house. He had found none, at least in that household. The couple obviously didn't care that much about keeping up with modern technology.

Saya sighed and nodded her head at Komuro, "Go find the others and tell them it's time to go to another house."

Takashi followed the order from his long time friend without missing a beat, as he walked off to find the couple other members of the group that split off.

"Hirano!" Saya said then turning to the brown haired teen who had since progressed into the kitchen, and was on a knee as he looked through various drawers for things of use.

"Yes Takagi-chan?" Kohta said quickly snapping his attention to the pink haired girl.

Saya's eye began to twitch a bit at the nickname, she didn't understand how the tubby boy thought it was okay to call her that. However she rolled with it and simply asked, "Where is Matsuo-san?" she said, moving herself to get full view of the kitchen in case she may end up answering her own question.

Kohta frowned, "She didn't really say much. However she told me she wasn't feeling good, and was going to stay behind with Saeko-san." he admitted recalling the memory from when he went to check up on the girl who was still in the bathroom when the groups got ready to leave.

Saya had an annoyed look come across her face at that. "You let her stay there? Shido is there! That is the last place she needs to be right now." she said clearly aggravated at that knowledge. At this point she completely and utterly despised the former teacher to the point of wanting to commit physical harm to the man. However she wasn't the biggest fan of their blonde "Leader" who performs random disappearing acts either. She didn't want to be like him and randomly condemn a human being to be executed simply on her own whim. No matter what the person had done. She wasn't god.

Kohta held up his hands defensively, "I said that too. She said she didn't care, and that she wasn't feeling well. She didn't seem to want to talk though, even if it was through the door, so I let her be." Kohta said slowly before quickly adding on, "And Shido is probably asleep. Getting beat up like that without painkillers hurts pretty bad." Kohta commented with some level of satisfaction knowing the pain that Shido was currently in.

Saya raised an eyebrow at the smile that graced the shorter boy's face at that note. Someone in pain wasn't any laughing moment, no matter who it was. However before she could make a comment on it, the chubby boy in turn asked her something.

"So did you and Shizuka-sensei find anything in useful upstairs?" Hirano asked as he opened a cupboard and raised an eyebrow at it's contents.

Saya ran a hand through her hair, "Their house layout is weird. I thought their bedroom would have been upstairs, but that wasn't the case. What was designed to be the bedroom got converted into some huge art room. The bathroom was upstairs though, however they didn't really have anything we could use. It was just bathroom supplies, the most I found was this." Saya said as she held up a bottle of Advil, "However even this is nearly empty." she said a bit annoyed at the fact.

Hirano had a small fly over his features as he realized that Shido was going to undoubtedly be in pain for quite awhile. Although the smile didn't get passed the pink haired genius.

"Something funny Hirano?" Saya asked pointedly, not amused that the boy may have found her failed search funny.

Hirano shook his head, "No, it is just that Shido wont have anything to take for his broken nose." he replied, his face now returned to normal as he reached into the cupboard and pulled out a cylindrical can.

Saya crossed her arms over her chest, a chest no young teenage girl should have. "Why would you smile about that?" Saya asked in annoyance.

Hirano looked mildly alarmed for a second as he froze reading the tag of the can he had picked up. However he quickly relaxed himself in order to not seem any more strange and guilty than he was at that moment, "I wasn't smiling." Hirano lied, not quite liking the feeling of how the lie rolled off his tongue into the ears of his crush.

Saya narrowed her eyes and made eye contact with the boy on the floor, before locking eyes at the can of spray paint he picked out of the cupboard before rolling her eyes. "Whatever." she nearly spat out in annoyance. The shorter boy was hiding something, and had lied straight to her face. In her opinion he would have to be an idiot to think that anything got past her.

It was at that thought that the memory of her encounter with the blonde and Rei in the bathroom flew through her head.

Saya pursed her lips. Well barely anything got passed her. She shook her head and spoke out, "Shizuka-sensei!" she said with a voice of command once again. "Have Hirano help you look for any medical supplies down here, I am going to go and follow up with Miyamoto and Komuro." she said looking over her shoulder before glancing about the rest of the room, and it's only other occupant which was Saito before nodding her head.

XXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

**Meanwhile in another area of the house**

"Why are you following me?" Miku spat out as she made her way through the house. The house was two stories, and the moment Pinky had told the group to carefully split up? She did. Of course, she naturally tried to delegate where the groups split up to. However it would be a cold _cold_ day in hell before she followed orders from that teacher's pet.

"I'm not following you." was the reply of the brown haired spear wielder as she quietly walked behind the shorter haired girl as they made their way down through the kitchen.

The layout of the house was weird to say the least, at least in comparison to houses she was used to around where she lived. The moment you walked into the doorway, there was a staircase right in front of you. And to the right of the staircase and the doorway was a open but rather small living room. You couldn't fit much more than what had been place in the room which was a bookshelf, two couches, a small wooden table, and a large television.

However on the far backside of the living room was an open area that lead into the kitchen which was virtually shaped like a hallway. This was the area she was currently walking down, following the shorter haired friend of Jin's. And it was at the end of this "hallway" that it split into two doors. One off to the side. The other going straight forward.

"Really? You're not following me?" Miku said as she turned around, to look at the longer haired girl of equal height defensively. "Then I'll go this way." she said as she reached behind her for a doorknob to the door on the side of the wall. "And you go that way." she said inclining her head to the door that was just a bit further down the "hallway" with an annoyed look.

Rei pursed her lips as if she wanted to say something before rolling her eyes as she let the girl's attitude sink in. Rei simply moved on down the hall.

Miku massaged her temples as she looked at the retreating form of the straight 'A' student. '_What the hell does he see in her?'_ Miku thought with a roll of the eyes before she proceeded into the room she claimed as her own.

"Now lets get me something _I_ can use." she said with a grin as she made her way into the room. She took in the scent of the room she had stepped into, and the scent was not foreign to her in the slightest. However she was able to note that there was a particularly delectable scent that seemed to cake over the first initial one.

"ohhh..." she moaned out as she took in more of the sweet scent that seemed to become more potent the further she got into the room.

She closed the door behind her as she scanned her eyes through the dimly lit room. It was dim, but she could see completely fine by all means. After all she had been able to see perfectly fine downstairs with the group the night before. '_Until I was seeing stars...'_ she thought to herself with a smile as she ran a hand over a dresser that had a small silky cloth over the top of it.

She flicked on the light, just for the extra visibility. Although she couldn't honestly say she was happy at the loss of the reddish pink glow that bled in through the room due to tinted windows in the darkness.

She whistled to herself as she allowed herself to appreciate the various artifacts scattered across the room. Tinted lamps, red silky sheets, dark walls, scents all too familiar and some pleasant but foreign.

Miku knelt down quietly as she reached into the back of her shoe and withdrew a rather impressive looking knife. She pressed a button on the center of the concealed weapon which prompted the blade to spring into life at an impressive length. It was by no means anything someone would use over a hunting or military combat knife, however it was compact and a gift. She stood up, clutching her knife before rapping quite hard against the wooden dresser she was next to a couple times to ensure she was alone.

It was a tactic that Shido had taught their group. He had convinced a lot of the group to not even take up weapons. '_Even Jin...'_ Miku thought in a bit of amusement as she put her knife away after a few moments.

The tactic was effective, and taught the group to be heavily alert of danger. One of the boys in the group even repeatedly said things like, _"We must move silently! Like ninjas!"_ before hopping onto tables, and vaulting over chairs with a silence that she found was almost impossible.

She was a bit disappointed when Shido had revealed that the boy didn't make it near the end. He was by far the most amusing in the group, and was making light of their situation. She personally felt that the boy way taking their situation a bit more like a video game than an actual life crisis. However that didn't really bother her. Add to the fact that the boy was rather cute? Yep, she was quite disappointed that he had died. She would have traded him for the longer haired creepy boy any day of the week.

"Well... well... weren't you just a kinky couple." Miku said quietly as she swayed over to the bed. The bed appeared to be freshly made as well, folded sheets just at the end of it. She fell back onto the silky bed with a sigh before reaching towards the head if the bed.

Screwed onto the head of the bed on about thirty percent, and seventy percent across the wooden head were two screwed on pieces of metal. However that wasn't nearly as entertaining as the pink fuzzy cuffs attached to them.

Miku grinned to herself as she removed her red top and set it down beside her leaving her in a black and red bra. "Could barely breathe in that thing." she said to herself with a grin before she pushed herself up further on the large bed. She laid back and held up each of her wrists to where the fuzzy cuffs were, not putting them on but experimentally getting the image in her head.

"I wish I was in this room last night. Would have been more fun." she mumbled to herself before rolling to look off the side of the bed. She spotted the trash can, and with a raised eyebrow her curiosity got the best of her.

She pulled the plastic black trash can over and nearly wanted to laugh upon the sight of at least three energy drinks on the surface. She shook the trash around a bit from the outside of the can. She had seen some nasty things lately. However that didn't mean she was going to get her hands dirty _like that_ unless there was actually something in it for her.

Miku raised an eyebrow even further as she sat up, and kicked the trash can already having a good idea what this room was used for. '_No condoms?'_ she thought to herself as she shifted the trash around by kicking the can with her foot.

She rolled to the other side of the bed, being lazy and not wanting to stand up and walk around. And it was there that her eyes rested on what she would forever remember as he holy grail. "What! Oh my god!" she said with a laugh. "No way..." she said as she knelt down to grab the handle of the object.

At the other side of the bed, the sweet scent was explained. A small pot full of melted chocolate was slowly being stirred. She lifted the pot up gently as to not spill anything before experimentally dipping a finger into the milky chocolate.

She breathed a sigh of relief at not burning herself before stood up on the bed, pot in hand, and walked off the bed messing up the stacked sheets at the end. She took her finger in her mouth and sucked the chocolate off slowly, now significantly happier at her recent discovery. She even proceeded to hum the tune to her current favorite song and danced a tiny bit as she moved over to the dresser.

"Hey... hey..." she mumbled a tune as set sucked more melted chocolate off a couple of her fingers, setting the pot on the top of the dresser. "Hey Daddy..." she continued to mumble as she opened the dresser. She continued to bounce to a silent beat as she looked over some clothes. She even experimentally pulled out a black top and held it across her form while continually eating chocolate.

She tossed the top back with a roll of the eyes realizing it would be a bit too tight of a fit for her. She didn't mind showing off, and even being a bit uncomfortable in order to show off. Looking good sometimes took work. However there was no way she was putting in _that_ _much_ effort into looking good for her current company. _'Particularly since Jin decided to just fucking bail me with these losers.'_ she thought bitterly as she put her entire middle finger covered in chocolate directly in her mouth before moving onto a new drawer.

"Come on give my something I can use." she said in annoyance as she yanked open the top drawer of the dresser before snorting at life's sense of humor.

Laid out before her was a rather large bright pink dildo coupled with a lot of smaller toys, she even caught sight of a strap on.

"Something else." she grinned in cheeky amusement around her middle finger.

It was at that moment that Takashi had decided to step through the door. "Yuuki-san we need to..." Takashi's train of thought completely and utterly died at the sight before him. "Ummm what?" was all he could say at what he was looking at.

He was best friends with Morita for god's sake! Now admittedly not a lot of girls really looked at Morita or anything like that. However two things about Morita was absolutely for certain. One, Morita was definitely looking at the girls! And two? Morita could draw his ass off. The teen even made a book full of girls from Fujima High that rated them on a scale of who was hottest. He then proceeded to do virtually picture perfect captures of them in an outfit that he felt would be appropriate for...

'_How fucking hot they are Takashi!'_

Takashi wanted to smirk at Morita's voice bleeding into his thoughts. However he was still too stunned to move. Morita had to be some sort of god or something, or have psychic abilities. First he says they would one day be surrounded by the hottest girls in school? Then he makes Saeko Busujima his hottest girl in school, and wants to see her in nothing but an apron and a thong?

Takashi knew his brain had all but shut down when he saw that the night before. And now here he was at the _second_ hottest girl. Yuuki Miku. Morita wanted to see her on the beach in a skimpy bikini eating ice cream with it melting onto her breasts...

Seeing Yuuki Miku sucking melted chocolate off her finger in her bra next to a drawer full of sex toys was a very fair exchange!

"What do you want?" Miku asked in annoyance around her finger before reapplying chocolate to it.. She didn't particularly like anyone in their group outside of Jin. They were all so drastically different from the typical company she kept. While Takashi was probably the closest thing to the company she kept, and add to the fact that he was cute? It was hard to not want him around. However by the same token, the fact that he had numerous girls wrapped around his finger with the way he carried himself at school, and the fact that he seemingly tried to play it off like he was none the wiser was rather annoying.

Anyone that was talked about by upper classmen or multiple girls in significantly favorable light at least had to have some inkling of knowledge that they were seen in that light. However Takashi was apparently completely and utterly ignorant to that. She could name a good ten girls that saw him in favorable light even if they never spoke to the boy. Not to mention Pinky and 'The Officer's Daughter' whom were both inside.

Takashi stared dumbly for a second as the scene unfolded before him before shaking his head, "Umm Takagi-san..." was all he got out before words failed him once again as he began to sport a good healthy blush.

Miku smirked at that before she realized just where she was exactly. She looked around over her shoulder for a moment as the situation seemed to sink in. She was single after all... technically. She wasn't technically tied down by any means. "Hey Komuro..." she said as she finished scanning the room. "Come here, close the door. Check this out." she said putting on a charming but seductive smile.

Takashi, while a teenager crushed his heavy blush and regained her composure. He knew if he didn't, Morita would probably kill him if he didn't stick around when invited. He nodded softly, and closed the door behind him as he took a look around the room.

"Is there a lock on it?" Miku asked _innocently_ as she looked questioningly at Takashi.

Takashi who had just scanned past the bed, and it's fuzzy cuffs gained another blush before he turned to the door. "No... no there's not." he said verifying every word he said in his head making sure he didn't make a complete and utter fool of himself around the Morita proclaimed _second hottest girl_ _in school_.

Miku frowned for a moment at the absence of a lock, but was otherwise unfazed. "Well come here, try this out." she said as she extended her chocolate free hand to the boy and grabbed him, pulling him closer to her the moment he was in reach.

Takashi blushed further due to his inexperience with his current situation. That and more so due to a bit of a reputation Miku had for her own experience.

Miku wrapped an arm around Takashi's waist before she pulled him closer to her, being extra attentive to press her chest up against the arm that was stuck between both of them. "Alright, you _have_ to have some of this chocolate with me, its amazing." she said in a teasing tone.

Takashi flushed at the further contact, and a certain part of his body was acting up as well. _'Damn teenage hormones...'_ he thought clenching his jaw. Although he secretly doubted that the situation in his pants would be much different even if he was a few years older. Takashi reached over the dresser from where he was standing and flicked off the light. The action left the room was a light red glow as the sun shined in through the tented windows. However more importantly to Takashi? It hid his pants and his embarrassment from the light.

Miku raised an eyebrow at the action. However before she could ask, Takashi spoke.

Takashi was a bit nervous admittedly and he hoped that Miku simply wasn't noticing it. He had quickly tried to explain his action earlier with, "The lamp on the dresser was bugging my eyes." However he knew with how jumpy he was being, it probably was rather obvious.

Miku smiled a bit brighter at the effect she had on the boy beside her. "Right." she said not buying his excuse in the slightest, but flattered none the less.

Takashi reached forward to the pot of melted chocolate, summoning up the courage to just take the initiative and proceed with the situation with the considerably _'Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot'_ good looking _'Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot'_ girl next to him.

Takashi clenched his eyes shut to block out the voice of his late friend who had become one of _them_. In fact he focused so much on that as he reached forward, he didn't even notice Miku had grabbed his wrist with the arm that was formerly around his waist.

"No... no." she said with a grin. "I'll give you some it's fine. Come here, it's a game." she said as she pushed herself and Takashi back a foot or so before bringing up a couple fingers dipped in chocolate. "Now here." she said as she held up her fingers for him.

Takashi was no bright red. He probably looked the color that the red tinted light was currently painting him, and he was just in some lucky camouflage. A part of his brain told him that the current time was not the time to do such a thing. However the other part of his brain told him he was technically single... and willing. Maybe not emotionally single a deep deep deep part of his brain reasoned. However the faint cries of that part of his brain were buried under an arena of the shouting physical part of his brain telling him to go for it.

"I ummm, can get it myself." he said as a last minute resistance to temptation as he attempted to brush past the girl to the chocolate. However Miku was having none of that.

Miku swept in front of his path, and got in front of the chocolate, "Uh uh. We are playing a game. No cheating. Besides you wouldn't want to get the chocolate dirty and ruin the fun would you?" she said with a flirtatious grin.

Takashi smiled weakly at that, "Oh since when were we playing a game Yuuki-san?"

"Miku." the girl corrected simply with a seductive smile.

Takashi flushed at the new first name basis with the Morita proclaimed second hottest girl in school. He never even dreamed he would be in this situation. "Since when were we playing a game... Miku." he corrected his earlier statement fighting down his emotions.

Miku's eyes glinted for a moment, "When you decided to stick around after walking in on me in just a bra with chocolate on my hands _Ta-ka-shi..._" she said sounding out every bit of his name in a whisper before holding up her chocolate covered fingers. "It is really simply to play." she said with a grin as she took her index finger and playfully sucked the chocolate off.

Takashi fought back a groan. _'This is like something from Morita's pornos...'_ he thought to himself, keeping up an outward solid facade.

"See? Simple." Miku said wagging her eyebrows teasingly.

Takashi had the image of Rei flash through his mind briefly, and he took a step back realizing he should be looking for her as well. "Look I really shou-"

"Should?" Miku teased as she advanced upon his retreat like a lioness. "Honestly? When are we ever gonna find time like this again? Do you seriously want to go back out there and possibly die... knowing you turned this down." Miku said in a soft seductive voice that was well practiced.

Takashi nearly choked, both at the scene and the strange truth behind the words.

Miku smirked knowing she had him with that line, and decided to go for the kill on the teen. "_All of this..."_ she whispered to him now that she was close enough as she waved a have over her body like a trader showing her wares.

Takashi did choke. It took a couple coughs and an adjustment to his shirt as his mind had to speed up to keep up with the blood pumping in his body.

The last minute resistance he had?

Where was it?

Takashi gently grabbed the girl's wrist and leaned his head down to take both of them in his mouth before he heard Miku's voice.

"Ah ah! One at a time." she said with a grin, one which Takashi returned.

Takashi looked her in the face as he had a renewed confidence. His mother had always told him that the hardest part with anything in life is simply getting your foot in the door. After you get your foot in the door, you can just keep pushing till your body gives out.

Takashi took her ring finger into his mouth and gently took the chocolate off like an expert.

Miku flushed at that, but wasn't going to let the brown haired teen see that, "This is your first time doing this huh?" she asked trying to block out the erotic feeling the boy was giving her that gave her shivers.

Now Takashi found himself stuck in a situation many teenage boys found themselves in growing up. Every so often growing up a teenage boy would be approached by a girl that they would dub out of their league. This situation was no different. And how the situation unveiled completely depended on how the boy acted. Now some boy's may whip out incredibly amounts of charm that would make a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat look pathetic. Others simply crumble due to their poor self confidence. Some try to impress the girl with certain. However quite often in the heat of the moment? A boy would lie to impress the girl. And that is just what Takashi did.

"Actually it's not..." he said doing his best to sound like he was admitting to a deed, and less like he was lying through his teeth.

Miku flush turned into a full on blush, _'There is no fucking way Komuro! Komuro fucking Takashi has done anything with a girl that I haven't already done with a guy! There is no way in all levels of hell that that has ever happened!'_ she told herself rapidly as a heat continued to collect in her face. And it was as time went on that her train thought and her resolve slowly crumbled, _'Right...? There is no way... But if there is... Is his blissfully ignorant personality towards girls all just an act? Is he actually more experienced then me?'_

"Is something wrong?" Takashi asked with an innocent look, silently hoping his lie hadn't been caught.

Miku's blush quickly turned into a glare as she stared as his innocent eyes before darting to her clean fingers. She rolled her eyes, _'Come on girl, this is just Komuro Takashi.'_ Miku thought to herself as she dipped four of her fingers back into the chocolate. "Turn your head to the right." she said trying to regain the control of the situation that she formerly had.

Takashi in his inexperience merely gave a nod and gently turned his head from the girl. He was expecting many things from her. However to be suddenly pushed back quite forcefully spilling himself onto the bed behind him was not what he expected. "What the he-" he was about to voice his opinion. However his statement completely ended with a groan as Miku had climbed on top of him and straddled his erection and leaned forward.

"I said turn your head." she said now with a more dangerous tone to her flirtations.

Takashi complied and turned his head from the girl a bit unsure what to expect at this point. Heck he barely even knew what was appropriate to do since they were just "playing" according to her.

It was at that point he felt his shirt being tugged down on his left shoulder. However before he could say anything he felt what was happening. Quickly but delicately he felt very carefully the letters "M - I - K - U" being scrawled down his neck in warm chocolate. And it was then right after that that he felt something else.

Miku shifted her entire body down after her brief artwork display, letting her chest lay flat against his own as she slowly began to trace the chocolate lettering with her tongue.

Takashi lay there frozen at the new sensation, and the extreme tightness in his pants that was telling him quite vividly that if he just removed the clothes between them at that moment, they would be having sex.

_'Damnit Takashi! Look at you lay there like an idiot. You have one of the hottest girls in school in your lap and you are just going to lay there doing nothing? Damnit if I was there I wou-..."_

Takashi cut off the inner voice of his friend telling him what he should do. The initial reminder was enough for his situation. He knew he would be able to take it from that point. After all? Foot in the door, keep on pushing.

Takashi ran his hand almost experimentally down the girl's back lower and lower until he reached his initial goal.

_'Right Takashi! Now if she lets you choose what word you get to lick off of her? Make sure to tell her it's ''... wait a minute! What are you doing? Nothing? Seriously? Let me just remove the caution tape around your dick so you can become a man! Its no big deal, really! Just let me gra-"_

Takashi clenched his jaw and swallowed his fear over his virgin experience. In one rather swift action he swept his hand down beyond the bottom of the girl's skirt before coming back up under it and slipping it under her the back of her panties.

Miku's eyes snapped open at that, but her pride didn't let her show that she was visibly effected by it. Her situation with Komuro had started off with just her own boredom and wanting to have fun. That and to also take a stab at both of the girls in the group that had been hung up on the brown haired boy. Particularly to take a stab at Rei given how Jin obviously still held feelings for the girl.

If she was going to cross over into her territory and stir shit up? Then she was more then capable of doing the same against that virgin girl. It was supposed to be easy and simple. Show the virgin boy under her some of her _talents_ and then keep him wrapped around her finger after that. Simple! Or so she thought... There was one key flaw with her plan that she simply didn't account for, and the unexpected circumstances suddenly made her feel quite vulnerable.

There was no way Takashi was a virgin. The way he flipped some sort of switch in him, and proceeded to hold her firmly to him. Cupping her ass all the while? The boy... the young man had even taken to sucking the remaining chocolate off her free hand that she cast off to the side. There is no way that he was a virgin.

Miku knew that she herself was as confident as they come. She grew up around people older than her, and even lost her virginity to an older guy. She remembered her first time vividly, and she was beyond nervous, and confidence she had at being one of the most popular girls in school utterly vanished.

So there was no fucking reason that Takashi would be comfortable with something as kinky as this with _the most popular girl in school_. There was no way. Unless he wasn't a virgin...

Miku sat up quickly from her earlier position completely stopping with the chocolate on his neck as she looked down at the boy with a different look. She now felt quite a deal self conscious at the way he was looking at her with such innocent eyes despite what inner turmoil he was causing her. She couldn't believe that the whole obliviously ignorant and innocent personality he pulled off was an act... but she had to. She had to otherwise she would never get past his eyes.

Takashi leaned up a bit on his elbow, his hand trapped under the girl who had instantly decided to sit up. The girl had even removed her fingers from his mouth. He honestly hoped he hadn't done anything wrong. While his confidence right now was pretty much "Jump in feet first, sink or swim, hope for the best" he certainly hoped he was at least floating above water in this situation.

Miku took a deep breath as she crossed her arms over her chest as she took her own leap of faith, and personal test. '_If he hesitates... if he doesn't...'_ she thought to herself. She knew based on the next few seconds she would forever solidify her situation with Takashi. She then hooked her non chocolate covered fingers under the straps of her bra before tugging them off her shoulders.

She wasn't about to get completely naked by any means. She just wanted to see what would happen if she did the following. Her bra dipped down a bit, not falling off, but showcasing more than enough of her chest. She then proceeded to take the remaining fingers that had any chocolate left on them and drew a chocolate heart between her breasts before removing her hand.

_'Alright don't hesitate Takashi! Don't act like a virgin! Fake confidence is pretty much just as good as real confidence!'_ Morita's voice yelled through the halls of Takashi's mind.

'_Please don't tell me I read you completely wrong.'_ Miku pleaded in her own mind

Takashi didn't hesitate as he surged himself upward as he wrapped his free arm around the girl's waist before he buried his face in the girl's chest to lick up the melted chocolate, completely ignorant to the fact that the gasp was more so one of shock rather than pleasure.

"Komuro-kun! Miyamoto-san found somet-" Saya called from the doorway before completely and utterly freezing at the sight before her.

Takashi straightened up really quickly and looked up from where his mouth had been to the doorway to catch sight of both Saya and Rei. However the brown haired girl was already retreating.

"Rei!" Takashi called out, and quickly removed Miku from his lap and rushed out of the room like a lover who had just been caught cheating. He did feel a bit guilty at leaving Miku like that, but the girl didn't seem to care in the slightest as she looked down on the bed absentmindedly wiping her chocolate fingers off of the bed that would likely never be used again.

Saya hid her pained grimace as Takashi brushed right past her to go down the hallway after the brown haired girl. She followed him sadly with her eyes doing her best to keep her emotions bottled up inside. She didn't want to show anyone how badly him brushing past her... like he always did... hurt her.

"Mad your crush follows Miyamoto like a lapdog?" Miku called out not bothering to look more than over her shoulder to the pink haired girl still in the doorway.

Saya's eyes darted to Miku on the bed before scathingly saying, "Shut up. You know nothing." before she turned away.

Miku scoffed at that, "Is that your way of saying welcome to the club?" she asked dryly.

Saya turned and gave a disgusted look at the short haired girl collecting herself on the bed. A girl who didn't even know Komuro, and yet had gotten further with him than she realized she probably ever would. "Like..." she began gathering her words as her anger built at that thought, "Like a whore like you would know a damn thing about being loyal to someone anyway." she spat out before briskly walking back down in the opposite direction that Rei and Takashi walked off.

Miku hung her head as she slowly began putting on her red top after the entire encounter. She felt defeated. Not from being caught. Not from not completing what they were doing. Not even Saya's words even scratched her, she could frankly care less. She felt defeated at how poorly she had seemingly judged Takashi. That and the voice playing in her own head as the constant reminder.

_'Always the terrible judge of character... aren't we now sister?'_ was the feminine voice the raked through the halls of Miku's mind that left her hands clutched at the blood red sheets of the bed below her.

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Alright so I guess that wraps up chapter 11. Frankly I'm quite surprised, but I am really enjoying writing this story. It feels good to be coming back to writing after so long.

Now as per usual, I will be giving an AN. However there is one thing I'd like to clear up which is a common misconception between an AN and writing a chapter.

When you are actually writing things to put into a chapter? You have to think about it quite a bit, and make sure people are in character. Etc etc etc. That takes time.

Writing an AN is just the author's stream of conscious thought of which he feels the group should know, or responding to a question. I can write a 1000 word AN in a few minutes. 1000 words for a chapter can take at times an hour if you don't have the right direction, or you need to do research, etc etc etc. I'd just like to clear that up for this story, and frankly any other story in the future, just because an author has a long AN doesn't mean "Well you should spend the time you use making ANs to write your story." ... There are many authors that will only get maybe a couple hundred words in the time it would take for it to write an AN.

Anyways as for some Q and A.

**"This is a Naruto Crossover... where the hell is Naruto?"**

Naruto is in Middle Earth... but seriously. Naruto isn't the only character I need to build. He is about to have a lot of time in the next few chapters as the plot unfolds where you get to see what happens with him and Jin among other things. Such as him actually getting in some danger.

However as I said before as well, I need to work on Takashi. He is pretty much the blankest of blank slates. So I decided to play a bit on probably Takashi's most basic quality which was that girls from all walks of life seemingly developed a crush on him. Unexplainably so. Naturally it was because he was the protagonist in the actual series, but I decided to make it more of a personal quality of his. Sort of like a Good Will Hunting with women. Not really understanding their feelings and being ignorant to them. Yet at the same time having a way with them.

Then finally some people were a bit disappointed at the lack of core characters in the story. And it didn't really bother me in the slightest to really give them some limelight. So I just decided to run with it. Then Miku's scene with Takashi kinda got out of hand while writing. I personally blame Morita(who is a canon character for those unfamiliar).

**TOO MANY OCS!**

As for Miku? I sort of just wanted to showcase that she is rather easy. Nothing technically wrong with wanting to have sex. Although it is technically frowned upon when it is a female doing such actions. I also wanted to really showcase a bit of her thoughts and opinions. I felt it was a bit odd that in the Highschool of the Dead series there could be three girls with an attraction to a male, yet the butting heads was minimal. I wanted to change that now that I had quite a few more people to play around with.

Yes I know her final thoughts felt very Sasuke/Itachi interaction like. Oh well. All gets explained later.

**Now a rather personal request/question for the readers.**

I don't know pretty much anything about guns. If anyone could assist with gun ideas or knowledge? They would be much appreciated.

Also if anyone feels like listing a plausible list of items that you feel could be found in a random house that would actually be plausible in a zombie apocalypse. (Remember, the EMP has not gone off, so no they won't start carrying around any form of heavy emp-proof equipment on the off chance a EMP happens.)


	12. Wear Your Past Like Your Armor

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead.

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"Rika, got positive control of the copter. Starting take off." Tajima's voice funneled into Rika's ear via radio over the sounds of the helicopter.

"East and West, all clear." Rika replied back as she settled herself in on the helicopter.

"Roger that. Hostiles approaching from the north... May need... Belay that." Tajima said as he watched the winds from the helicopter blow a set of zombies onto their backs.

Rika gave a sigh as she watched the ground slowly but surely get further and further from her, thankful that whatever these creatures truly were lacked ranged capabilities.

"Well now Rika... Looks like you're going to get home!" Tajima's voice called out loudly to her as the reached higher in the sky.

'_Home..._' Rika thought to herself with a small smile on her face. That concept was completely foreign to her. It was frankly foreign to most people she was even close to. Even the small place she had in her name wasn't really home for her, it was more so just a resting place before her next assignment.

"Yeah I don't know about that Tajima." She called back with a small smile on her face as she let her mind drift toward seeing her friend after quite a long time.

"Did nothing get through that thick skull of your's Rika? Home isn't a place! It's where the heart is!" Tajima replied with conviction as he slowly operated the vehicle turning it's course to their destination.

Rika's train of thought about seeing Shizuka caused her to freeze as she let the foreign idea sink into her skin.

_But family? Friends? That type of shit is our shoreline. When all other shit goes to hell, when all else fails? That is what guides you home. And trust me, as a person that has had that? You're always tryin' to get home._

_Home is where the heart is._

Rika sat down and pursed her lips at that as she forced down her conscious thought to simply enjoy the sights of the world passing by her. At least... enjoy the cries of people, burning buildings, and sounds of gunshots to the best of her ability.

She liked to think that somewhere out there... there was a place that was free from the chaos. A place untouched by the misery.

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**Three and a Half hours earlier.**

Naruto stood on a rooftop now several blocks from the house and looked down upon a crossbow wielding teen.

Oh he wanted to be mad. He wanted to be mad so badly. He had followed expecting to watch a complete and utter failure. He was expecting to be forced to save the larger teen only a couple blocks away from the house. He was perfectly willing to render the boy unconscious, and take him back before sealing the crossbow into a scroll so that the teen couldn't get his hands on it... like he always seemed to do. He was waiting for the teen's failure.

Yet it never came.

That was why as the journey went on, Naruto became less and less frustrated and annoyed, and more and more impressed. It was almost like watching a birds eye view replay of an infiltration mission. The teen was by no means stealthier than a ninja. However it was obvious to Naruto that his earlier assumption that the teen had no idea what he was doing with the crossbow was obviously false.

Jin's footsteps lacked stealth. Naruto knew that if he channeled chakra to his ears, he could probably hear them. It was probably the most basic of basic tactics taught to any and all shinobi in any village that one must subconsciously muffle their movements with a small cloud of chakra on top of being able to walk across creaky wooden floors silently. Jin obviously having no such training didn't have that level of stealth.

However by the same token, the zombies walking around didn't have shinobi training either, so most weren't able to pick up on the boy's movements.

Jin moved at a quick pace, from cover to cover which to Naruto was interesting to watch from a bird's eye view. Naruto came to realize that if the teen really had wanted to grab a weapon, he could have grabbed any weapon Hirano had found in the house. Something like those loud "guns" would have probably been the more impressive weapon. Their projectiles were fast... absurdly so. Naruto could barely see the projectiles that were being shot from those weapons. Although while they were a physical threat to him, they were also incredibly flawed from his point of view. The wielders were overly reliant on their weapons. Hirano could probably not even kill more than a couple zombies absent his projectile based weaponry.

However on top of the projectiles being fast, their power did not come without severe flaws. They were loud. Yet Jin's choice of weaponry, while technically ancient, was the best of both worlds. Incredibly fast and powerful. Yet still retaining it's deadly silence. It probably would have been utilized in the Shinobi world more often if the time it took to arm the weapon would have been shorter.

Jin was smart. Naruto would give him that. At least... tactically smart. Early on into the journey he had stumbled across a young dead child that had a toy slingshot clipped to his clothes. Alongside him even in death was his mother, clad in pink, bathed in blood.

He didn't hesitate. One silent shot sent the mother falling to the ground dead against a brick wall. The child almost as if sensing the disturbance, but not knowing where it came from turned to the loudest sound, which was the fall of his mother. And like a curious child, looked over his mother despite his blind state, before a bolt pierced the back of his skull causing him to collapse in a heap across his mother's legs.

It was at that moment that Jin had collected a tiny pouch of small rocks and glass marbles from the boy's pocket. To say these saved his life on occasion would be an understatement. If Naruto were to be completely honest? They probably saved his life more than the crossbow. He honestly wondered how much of it Jin knew to do on his own. And then how much of it Shido had to experimentally teach the students he escorted out of the school unarmed.

Naruto's expression soured at the thought of the teacher, and what he was going to do about him. What could he do about him? Kill him? He killed people for crimes. Killing people just because he didn't like him or they opposed him? That was beneath him. The moment he started doing that, he knew he would be no better than Gato. He himself didn't like the Tsuchikage. He felt the old man clung to outdated principles. He looked down on the younger generations while trying to retain a sense of authority despite the fact that he was physically on his last legs. A large contrast to other members of the older generation of the world such as Hiruzen Sarutobi, or the Samurai Mifune. However just because he didn't like the Tsuchikage, or how the man treated others, or how he personally carried himself... that wasn't a grounds for killing him. Not in the world at war they were in. A world where everyone was trying to band together to survive.

Although with Shido... the man's seemingly lack of morals was disturbing. Naruto wouldn't go out of his way to compare the man to extremists he knew back from his own world like Orochimaru, Tobi, or even Pein. However by the same token, he knew there was something definitely wrong with the man, at least in contrast to the other company in the group.

Naruto couldn't say what had entirely went on downstairs, or even if everyone was completely aware of the situation. All he could legitimately confirm was the rape. Who was technically aware of it or even paying attention to it, or those that were letting it happen? He could not confirm. Far too often had he walked into the ANBU showers, and there would be a couple from a squad taking part in their own form of tension relief and they would be completely oblivious to their surroundings. A feeling he was personally all to familiar with when he spent his moments with Yugao. When absorbed intimately with someone, a lot of perception of the world went away. And it was only when a drastic contrast from the current situation presented itself does that perception shatter.

He smirked at that thought. He remembered walking in on borderline orgies in the shower rooms. Yet he could remember quite clearly in later years Kiba becoming quite the dog with women. So much so that he began to pick up different civilian girls daily. Despite Konoha being a shinobi village, with the sudden loss of the Uchiha Clan Police Force, and the anonymity of ANBU? Couple that with the fact that genin are often too young, Jounin in the village are often in company of children, and chunin are usually stationed at guard duty? The presence of shinobi in the actual village was rather rare.

So naturally the idea of sleeping with a shinobi grew to be almost a mythical conquest for many civilians. It was by no means some form of unheard rarity. However with a civilian population that outnumbers the shinobi population eight to one, and the rarity of shinobi in the village themselves? The idea of a sexual encounter with a shinobi was often a subject whispered about in the civilian educational systems.

Few ninja fancied themselves with civilians simply due to the stress and demand of a shinobi lifestyle numerous problems were faced. Honestly, how do you break it to your loved one that you were going to be gone sometimes weeks or months at a time? That you could potentially die on any trip you take? That you could potentially be asked to sleep with your mark should the situation call for it? Very few civilians could deal with such a situation.

However Kiba who didn't care about having a relationship in the slightest? Civilian women were practically a gold mine for the dog.

_'Naruto! I'm telling you! I walk in with my flak vest and the leaf emblem and 9's and 10's are on my like white on rice! Whoever decided to spread rumors of Shinobi having far greater stamina sexually than civilians deserves a fucking medal!'_

Naruto snorted at that thought. He wanted to say he could relate. However with being in ANBU and being the Kyuubi Jinchuriki. He lived a drastically different lifestyle than Kiba.

Naruto sighed as he continued to absentmindedly tail Jin. They were nearing the bridge. And while the teen had been successful thus far? His success was going to end as he reached a dead end ahead.

The bridge, while Jin couldn't see it, was filled with zombies. As was the entire opposite side of the small bridge. Trying to cross that with all of them there would be suicide. Or at least so he thought.

It wasn't even minutes later that Naruto was forced to raise an eyebrow at the balls on the teen before him. Whatever he was trying to do had to be important... very important.

_'His muscles will give out before he gets across. He's getting desperate. I doubt the kid even realizes how tired he really is.'_ Naruto thought to himself with pursed lips at the sight before him.

There was a long beam that went along the underside of the bridge. It was easily strong enough to support the teen, and small enough to grapple on to and perhaps wrap his legs around it. The bridge even arched up over the beam in the middle. Yet all it would take would be one small mistake. One slip. One single second of lost determination, and he would be plummeting into the cold night waters in a rather strong current.

Although Naruto's thoughts were unknown to Jin, and for that reason unfazed the boy from his quest.

Naruto watched Jin from a significantly closer distance as he strapped the crossbow onto his back before securing the bolts carefully. It seemed he was extra mindful of the couple he had used repeatedly to kill the undead over the course of the night. Who could really blame him?

Naruto looked on in silence, his black attire making him invisible in the night, practically impossible to see even when being searched for.

Naruto would admit that for a teenage civilian? Jin was pretty impressive. He started off on a hill under the bridge before he proceeded to grip the beam with his two hands. He let go of them for a moment before shaking them quickly, and drying his palms on his shirt. It was clear the boy knew the risks involved with what he was trying to do if his visible nerves were anything to say about it.

He shook his head with a heavy breath before he reached up and decided to jump in feet first. He grabbed the beam and was quick to start moving arm after arm.

Naruto wasn't going to lie to himself, it was a bit stressful to watch. If he were to dub Hirano the most interesting in the house, and Saito the most useful? He didn't necessarily know what he should call the teen before him. However one thing he could call him now was determined, if not reckless.

He was now fifteen feet above ground from his own feet, above a rather hard slope that spilled into the river. He wasn't quite over the river yet. However if he were to fall from his current position? He probably would end up with some form of leg injury from falling wrong in his fatigue.

Naruto moved in closer to the bridge, just behind Jin. The teen would have noticed Naruto if he stopped and looked behind him, but he was in no position to even be thinking about turning around.

Naruto tightened his jaw at the sight before him. Jin practically yelled out in pain with each reach forward at an upwards incline of the bridge. He had made it perhaps twenty some odd pulls upward by this point, an amazing feat. Although also a worrisome one. The teen was now over the river.

Naruto watched carefullly as he channeled a bit of chakra to his eyes to see the scene before him vividly.

"Arrgghh!" he could hear Jin cry out from his suspended form as his arms were beginning to give out on him. And it was at this point he was forced to do one on the most painful things he would have to do on his taxed arms.

He swung back and forth with painful grunts and cries as he tried his very best to lift his legs up onto the beam, and lock them.

Naruto's formerly narrowed eyes however softened as he saw that the teen had gotten one leg up. He was home free for the first h-

_'What!' _Naruto thought to himself in a panic as he took a few steps forward.

Jin had just spontaneously lost his grip on one hand, causing the teen to lose his footing on the beam as well. He was dangling there suspended by one hand alone.

Naruto added additional chakra to his eyes ignoring the slight pain he was getting from the shackle in his wrist as he zoomed in on Jin's hands. Naruto's narrowed eyes returned as he caught the cause of Jin's predicament.

'_Sweat...'_ Naruto thought to himself as he prepared to get ready to try his best to save the teen if he could even reach him before he hit the water in mid air given the distance he was at.

Jin hung there motionless for a good seven seconds. However those seven seconds felt like years for Naruto. One of the more advanced methods of shinobi training was free solo climbing. Your chakra is temporarily sealed, and you are forced to climb often times a cliff with no equipment. It developed strength and grip for shinobi. However more importantly, Naruto realized how awful sweat or wet surfaces were when trying to cling to something.

Jin was likely operating on both.

Jin visibly took a deep breath at the end of those seven seconds before he wiped his hand off and forced himself to pull up and grab the beam with his other arm. He repeated his earlier motion, this time in a significantly greater deal of pain than the first time.

Upon his success at wrapping his legs, Naruto fought the urge to clap for the teen. It wasn't so much the feat that was impressive. More so his determination in his fatigue. Strength of will and spirit was far more rare to find than strength of the body. That became quite apparent to him when he was forced to be in charge of all shinobi nations and saw all different kinds of people from across the land.

Naruto watched on as Jin used his legs to pull his upper body closer to the beam. He wrapped both of his arms around the beam tightly as he began panting in exhaustion before slowly but surely pulling himself along with his legs as a safety net.

However even Naruto knew the teen wasn't safe yet. If his legs gave out as well as his already exhausted arms, he was done for.

Naruto pursed his lips as he looked over to an identical twin beam not far from the one Jin was on before looking back out to Jin.

He would be lying to himself if he said he had not taken a personal interest in the teen. Hirano was skilled with weapons of this time. Saito apparently had some skill in the technology as well as the geography. Komuro had guts, no necessarily the skills to back it up, but he had a lot of guts. Jin on the other hand was determined. The only question really was what he was determined to do, that is what interested Naruto.

Naruto hopped onto the second beam and proceeded to carry himself across the belly of the bridge to match up with Jin.

Jin laid on top of the beam in the center of the bridge, hugging it to his torso as he panted heavily. Sweat marred his forehead as well as his hands. His muscles in his arms were shaking as he clung to the beam. His legs dangled as if they were lifeless from his position.

He looked down below him only to see a zombie caught by the current on the cement column holding the bridge up. It looked up at him, hearing his panting clearly over the sound of the water. It clawed upwards with scatching growls, only to be plagued by the reality of he would never reach his target... unless his target fell.

Jin squeezed his eyes shut in pain, his eyes fluttering occasionally from taxing and unusual form of physical exertion. Between his occasional slipping and tipping to the side, he felt as if he wanted throw up or collapse. One of the two. He couldn't tell between the pain he was feeling.

Naruto pursed his lips. Not thinking before he spoke was one of his childhood past times. However it had become something that grew to be a completely foreign concept to him over the years. So why Naruto had decided to break that fact, that reality that had sunk in over the years for the case of someone who he didn't care all that much about? He did not know.

XXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXX

_"Kid you... are an idiot. I don't know what you were thinking, because clearly, you aren't ready for this." Uzuki Yugao said as she looked down on a young twelve year old recently promoted chunin, and recently joined ANBU. He was currently sprawled on the floor with numerous cuts and bruises, looking up at the woman defiantly._

_"ANBU represent the elite shinobi of Konoha. Not the jounin like the shinobi villages want the populace to believe. We are ghosts, spectres, shadows of society. We are the best and only the best. We risk our lives for the sake of the village, and put our lives on the line for our allies. Hundreds of shinobi apply to become ANBU yearly. Only a third usually make it past the application process. Only half them usually make it past our basic training. And then out of those often seven to thirteen prospectable recruits? Only a choice few believe that ANBU is the occupation for them. And now that brings me to you." Uzuki said before bending forward to get into Naruto's face, an intimidating feat since she was currently wearing her mask._

_"Now you Uzumaki Naruto get a free pass. You get a free pass beyond all of these actual prospectable recruits simply because of you gifts. You are the Kyuubi brat, the jinchuriki." Yugao said in a cold tone from behind her mask._

_Naruto clenched his jaw at that all to familiar comment. Something Yugao was more than willing to pick on._

"_Oh did I offend you? Get over it. The Kyuubi is part of who you are. You should wear that seal like armor or a badge of honor. Accept that you are the Kyuubi Jinchuriki, and then that fact can never be used again to hurt you." Yugao said as she crossed her arms looking down on the blonde. "The Kyuubi is the only reason the Division leader saw fit to accept you application. You are nothing special Naruto. You are not some unique snowflake in Konoha. Every shinobi in our ranks could kill you right where you stand. Every shinobi applying to our ranks right now, I know for a fact could kill you right where you stand before your mortal heart beat even once." Uzuki now stood once again at her full height so she was looking down on Naruto._

_"Now you have landed on my squad by chance. You could have been saddled with anyone. However for some awful reason, the Division Leader saw fit to put you with me. I have enough on my plate. You have come in here day after day, loud, obnoxious, lacking knowledge of the shinobi arts. Do not assume simply because your lucky win in the exams or your chance defeat of Suna's jinchuriki that you hold any of my respect." Yugao shook her head as she scolded the blonde before her._

_"Go home Naruto. This division is not meant for you. You are weak, inexperienced, and you are irresponsible. You will never be an ANBU, and I'd never train someone like you." Yugao said coldly as she turned before walking away, her purple hair trailing behind her at her brisk pace as she left one of the many ANBU training grounds._

_"Damnit!" Naruto bit out as he pushed himself of the floor. His nails collecting dirt and blood as he forced himself up. "Don't turn your back on me!" Naruto yelled out at the top of his lungs to the retreating Yugao despite the pain in his chest._

_It was too fast for even Naruto to see. One moment there was merely a head of purple hair in the distance about to leave the darkened training ground. The next? A knee was planted roughly in his gut as blood sprayed out of his mouth from a bit tongue and potential internal bleeding._

_However Naruto took this as a queue that they were still fighting from earlier. He latched on to the leg that kicked him, despite the pain throughout his body. "Arrgh!" he cried out with a yell as he began to push forward roughly, leaving Yugao with one leg for balance._

_"Damn brat." she bit out from behind her mask as she began to deliver a series of strikes to the face of the blonde. "Let go! Or I'll really injure you! Your last warning!" she yelled out each between a strike with her first to his face, or an elbow to his skull._

_"Fuck you." Naruto replied his body no longer registering anything that was happening. There was no pain. There was no thought. There was no tactic. There was only instinct and a will to win._

_Yugao grit her teeth as she was forcibly hopping back from the charging blonde jinchuriki. She looked over her shoulder only to hiss. They were fighting above the fifty foot rock climbing wall. A fall from that height would surely hurt one of them. She wasn't intending for it to be her. "Last chance." Yugao said coldly as she reached for her kunai._

_"For you!" Naruto yelled out as he surged forward for the final few steps before the edge of the cliff._

_Uzuki grit her teeth at the young teen, and whipped out a kunai and stabbed the blonde in the back of his shoulder._

_Naruto gave a cry, and pulled the leg in as he collapsed down and pinned Yugao with his smaller body._

_Yugao however was rather amazed that instead of the blonde conceding defeat, and looking for medical attention for his now rather severe wound to his shoulder, he pressed on._

_Naruto straddled the woman's waist before striking down with his right fist like a street brawler. However Yugao merely caught his arm in a lock._

_Naruto grit his teeth at his failure, and swung down heavily with his stronger left arm. Yet that too only resulted in the same action. Although behind the woman's mask, she cringed quite heavily at the power behind that blow._

_Naruto with a growl, reared his head back with a cry of, "I... wont... lose!" before ramming his head forward, his skull connecting directly with the masked female below him._

_Blood splattered over the mask as the action created a gash on Naruto's forehead. The mask cracked heavily into several smaller pieces in an all to similar fashion for Naruto as he laid his forehead against the impact zone._

_Piece after piece of the mask slowly fell off the side of the fifty foot cliff._

_Yugao's soft attractive features didn't hold the stone faced gaze on a trained killer. At least they didn't to Naruto at that time. However perhaps that was because the woman's mind was elsewhere at that time._

_"Uzumaki Naruto, 12 years old. Genin of Konoha. Failed the Genin exam twice. Fought against a Konoha chunin and won. On his first C-rank he fought the Demon Brothers, Zabuza Momochi, and a trained orphan member of the Yuki clan... and succeeded. During the chunin exams he fought against Orochimaru... and survived. In the finals he fought a Hyuuga in close combat... and triumped. He was faced with a battle against the One Tailed Jinchuriki... and did not falter." Yugao thought to herself as she gazed up into blue eyes, ignoring the small droplets of blood that were occasionally falling onto her forehead._

_"You never give up do you?" she asked bluntly as she watched the boy's vision fade in and out._

_Naruto shook his head, on the verge of fainting, "Please... I want you to teach me."_

_Uzuki took a deep breath despite being straddled by a young teen, before recalling words of someone close to her._

_"I believe that the Samurai had it right all along. Even Hanzo of the Salamander believes this. They believed that no man was without worth. That every man has the potential for greatness with a strong enough will and a correct purpose. I only wish that people would stop looking down on others for their situation, disabilities, or lack of belonging to a clan... the village would probably be better off."_

_Yugao's gaze softened as she was forced to relive the recent memory of the loss of her lover as she remembered an ideal he had once told her. She forcibly brought herself back to reality as she pushed the blonde off of her. There was no way she was going to let a twelve year old runt see her get teary eyed._

_"Go get your injuries treated by one of the ANBU division medics." Yugao said coldly as she walked past the exhausted teen. She then sighed before replaying everything that had just happened over in her head before looking over her shoulder, "Be here tomorrow at six." she called out before walking away._

_"Thank you!" she heard the young blonde yell out to her. She resisted the urge to snort at the idea. He was completely ignorant to ANBU training._

_"You wont be thanking me tomorrow!" she called back as she rounded the corner out of the training ground._

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_XXXXXXXX_

_Naruto dashed for his life as he vaulted over a wave of oncoming kunai aimed for his knees._

_"Come on kid, lets go!" Yugao yelled over the rhythmic sounds of metal slicing through the wind._

_Naruto rolled from his jump, and spring boarded onto all fours as he continued his dash like a wild animal as he rushed for a giant wall erected by earth jutsu earlier that day._

_"Learn from your mistakes kid! Or you will get hurt!" Yugao yelled to the charging blonde. She remembered quite clearly how the blonde had charged directly into a torrent of flames coming out of the rock wall. He had been unable to properly grapple the rock wall from that point and was forced to see the medic._

_Naruto gave a roar as he continued to charge at the rock wall. The very familiar jets making themselves known as he got within fifty yards of the wall._

_"Damnit kid! If you do something stupid again I swear!" Yugao got out before the jets fired drowning out any and all sound except from a feral roar from Naruto._

_The blonde went from all fours at the oncoming flame to his two feet before he proceeded to flip forward head on into the flame._

_Yugao's eyes widened at the suicidal blonde's actions. 'Damnit!' she cursed to herself in her thoughts as she rushed forward. The blonde jinchuriki was by all accounts an idiot. He was reckless, and had no sense of self preservation. The young Uzumaki had taken to arriving every day at the ANBU training area at four or five in the morning. A good hour or two before schedule. Quite the impressive feat since Yugao was more than keen to work Naruto into the ground. However given the fact that the blonde seemed to never give up? She would work him sometimes to midnight or even two in the morning. The fact that the blonde was standing on such little sleep was impressive._

_Yugao came as close as she possibly could without getting cooked alive herself. The flames that were shot from the jets in the rock formation were motion sensors. However they were specifically catered for training, and were susceptible to chakra manipulation and as such susceptible to genjutsu despite being machines. The standard way to get past the test was a water jutsu, or a low d-rank genjutsu that temporarily made a certain area appear motionless. However this blonde... this idiot._

_She had told him to go to the library. To learn everything that he could. He didn't understand how valuable knowledge was. He didn't understand how gifted he could potentially be with his Kage Bushin. A hundred lifetimes of training could be accomplished in months by the blonde. Yet he was merely stubborn, headstrong, willful, and foolish._

_She waited patiently for a good ten seconds for the flames to stop before her eyes narrowed._

_'They should have stopped by now... unless...'_

_A pain filled roar gave way over the deafening flames. The sphere of flames burst forth shooting out fire in all directions, scorching the earth as the last remnants of chakra faded from the flames causing them to lose their form._

_Yugao's eyes widened at the sight before her. There was Naruto, suspended in the air, a blood red cloak of chakra sprouting from his body. Three tails suspended behind him as he had a kunai stabbed painfully into his leg. A self inflicted wound no doubt._

_Yugao's eyes followed the blonde's out stretched hand, and the wavy arm of chakra that launched through the oncoming flame and grabbed into the giant rock mass before him._

_'You have to be shitting me...' The ANBU captain thought to herself dryly as her surprise at the situation dimmed, and it was replaced with annoyance._

_A shattering sound reverberated through the underground complex as the entire stone column exploded with vibrant red cracks of chakra. Every piece of stone seared on the edges. The flames stopped in an instant, and the blonde propelled himself forward with his chakra extended arm flying through the shattered and crumbling rock._

_His body skidded into a roll over the finish line before he stepped on a button on the ground with his feet._

_"New Record!" a recording voice sounded over the speakers above the panting, and bloodied blonde._

_Naruto looked to a corner wall to see a screen come up with the title "Timed Run" on it._

_Timed Run:_

_1st: Future Hokage Naruto, 02:19_

_2nd: Uchiha Itachi, 3:12_

_3rd: Senju T., 3:16_

_4th: Orochimaru, 3:22_

_5th: Uzumaki Kushina, 3:47_

_"Yes!" Naruto cried out as he suddenly had the energy to jump and give a cry of joy and accomplishment. He was so absorbed in his own success at the number one spot that he didn't even bother to read over the other names. That and his cloak of chakra disappearing._

_Yugao on the other hand face palmed, 'That wasn't technically against the rules. However him doing that eliminated an entire third of the actual test.' she thought with her eyes twitching trying to figure out how she would describe the destruction on an obstacle course that had been in operation since the Second Hokage developed the ANBU Disivion._

_'The entire Kunai throwing portion of the test that Itachi had spent months perfecting to achieve the top score was completely bypassed by one over determined blonde.' the purple haired captain thought with a twitching eyebrow._

_Yugao shook her head as she walked over to a computer in the corner of the room that operated the course. It was only a few keystrokes and mouse clicks before the ANBU captain rained on the blonde's parade._

_Timed Run:_

_1st: Uchiha Itachi, 3:12_

_2nd: Senju T., 3:16_

_3rd: Orochimaru, 3:22_

_4th: Uzumaki Kushina, 3:37_

_5th: Hatake Kakashi, 3:54_

_"Hey what the hell!" Naruto yelled out as his accomplishment was ripped from him. He hobbled over to the ANBU captain at the computer screen, still having not pulled the kunai from his leg. "Damnit I worked hard for that!" he yelled out stubbornly._

_"You ignored a third of the entire test and came out incredibly injured. You finished the test like some ridiculous barbarian, not a ninja." Yugao replied simply still wondering why the Division Leader ever thought it would be a good idea to give her the blonde._

_"What?" Naruto yelled. "That's bullshit! You didn't tell my I had to finish the test in some certain way. You just said I had to finish the test. Look underneath the underneath! That is what Kakashi-sensei said!" continued in a loud voice._

_"Naruto..." Uzuki began as she looked at the blonde._

_"What?" Naruto asked tensely in a softer tone, still none too pleased._

_"Shut up." she said simply as she pinched the bridge of her nose. 'How had he even been able to access the Kyuubi's chakra like that? I thought that wasn't supposed to be able to happen... at least not yet.' she thought to herself as she clenched her jaw._

_Naruto clenched his hands at the all too familiar feeling of being screwed over and set aside by someone he is supposed to look up to as a mentor or an adult._

_"Naruto I have been training you for longer than I would have cared to now. You have made next to no progress. I told you to go to the library and learn more about chakra control and how you manipulate it. I told you to broaden your spectrum of shinobi techniques. Yet you have done none of that. You have only tried to train your body, neglecting your most powerful tool, which is your mind." Uzuki said as she spared the young blonde a glance._

_"In a week's time, I'm supposed to take you on your first mission. Not only will you be alongside me, but you are supposed to be alongside other shinobi that have never even met you. You did not go through the standard ANBU initiation. However even worse than that? You aren't as skilled, and I can't even rely on you to do the simple things I ask of you like going to the library. How am I or anyone else for that matter supposed to trust you in the field?" Yugao said as she quietly scrolled a couple pages over in the timed run rankings to her number seventeen slot. "The saddest part is that you didn't even need to go yourself Naruto. You could have sent your clones to go read the material for you. Yet you didn't."_

_Naruto said silent as he let the weight of Yugao's words sink in. He hadn't even known he was supposed to go on a mission soon. He suddenly cursed himself for how ill prepared he had been coming out of the academy. The teachers simply didn't teach him or help him as much as other kids._

_"I'm going to send in a request for you to be reassigned tomorrow morning so that you can resume your Chunin duties. I can't have you on my team in your current state. Perhaps you can try back in a few years when you are a bit more mature, capable and responsible." Yugao said as she initialized that activated a large sealing array that slowly but surely began to reform the broken areas of the course._

_Naruto clenched his jaw and his fists at that. "I'm sorry alright!" He yelled in exasperation. "I don't get a lot of this... ninja stuff. I get that. When I was going through the academy, the teachers didn't rea-"_

_"I don't care what happened back then. This is what I'm talking about Naruto." Yugao said as she began to walk over to the giant stone column slowly trying to repair itself._

_"What do you mean?" Naruto said in confusion. He was telling the truth, the academy teachers barely paid attention to him._

_"You don't take responsibility for your own actions." Yugao said plainly._

_"I'm serious though! The acade-"_

_"We are not in the academy anymore Naruto!" the purple haired woman fiercely said cutting the blonde off. "The moment that you realize that your failures in life are as just as much your fault as the people you choose to blame is only when you can improve as a person."_

_Naruto scoffed, "So it's my fault I'm the Jinchuriki then? I didn't choose to be this!" he replied passionately._

_"No... You did not. However at the academy? You didn't go study on your own time. You instead pulled pranks. You skipped class. You can get yourself out of any situation you find yourself in. It is your responsibility to control the outcome of things in your life." Uzuki said parroting words her former captain Hatake Kakashi had told her._

_"That's ridiculous. You can't get out of every situation damnit! Sometimes you just get stuck!" Naruto proceeded to cup a hand over the seal on his belly for emphasis._

_Yugao shook her head, "You can get yourself out of any situation, you just need to find a way to do it." she shook her head as she looked about the rebuilding room._

_"This room is going to be out of order for repairs for the rest of the night. From now on you should just report to your genin team in the mornings." Yugao said as she walked away from the young blonde, leaving him standing there defeated to mull over her words._

_Yugao paused at the door of the underground training room before saying loud enough for Naruto to hear. "I hope to see you in our division when you are more mature Naruto. You are very brave and determined. However you are so determined to achieve your dream that you ignore crucial steps along the way. You are headstrong Naruto. Headstrong stubborn shinobi don't last long in our line of work. There have been very few." It was then that Yugao pressed a button near the doorway that prompted the systems to begin shutting down._

_Naruto pursed his lips as he thought over Yugao's words before he looked up at all of the blacking lights. It was only then that his eye caught sight of something he had formerly ignored._

_'4th: Uzumaki Kushina, 3:37'_

_Naruto found himself standing in the blackness for a good twenty minutes lost in thought before he even decided to leave the compound that day to reevaluate what he was trying to accomplish._

XXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXX

Ahhh. That was why.

"I didn't think you made it half way just to give up." Naruto said loudly over the sound of the water and dead below.

Jin nearly fell off the beam he was laying on at the announcement from the unknown presence. "What the hell are you doing here!"

Naruto spoke in a tone with an attitude he remembered all too well, "Watching you give up apparently."

Jin grit his teeth at the condescending tone, "Screw you. This shit is fucking hard." Jin spat out through ragged breaths.

"So that is the secrets to teenagers these days? Give up when the going gets tough?" Naruto taunted. "Thats fine. Your body will give out if you just decide to hang here. Although if you want me to collect the crossbow from your corpse, that is fine too."

Jin scowled, "Fuck you, I haven't given up." He said through heavy breaths.

"Really? Well then lets go." Naruto said as he dropped down and hung from the beam.

Jin clenched his jaw despite the pain throughout his upper body. "I just got here. How the hell aren't you tired!" Jin asked in frustration.

Naruto ignored the important question, "Who cares if you just got here. Whatever you are trying to do must be pretty important if you are willing to do all of this for it. So come out. Stop waiting around." Naruto said as he dangled from the beam.

The mention of Jin's apparent goal seemed to bring a renewed fire back to his eyes that at least temporarily masked his exhaustion and pain. Jin dropped down in similar fashion to Naruto, instantly regretting the blinding pain it brought to his body.

Naruto knew the face Jin was making all too well. "Force yourself!" Naruto commanded knowing very well how easy it is to listen to the part in your brain just telling you to let go.

Jin proceed to pull himself forward on the beam with groans, gasps and cries of pain. Every swing and lift of his arm more painful than the next.

"No giving up, come on!" Naruto pressed the teen on. It was times like these that Naruto had engraved into his memory from his shinobi life. The times that separated the good ninja from the great ninja.

Naruto proceeded to swing along forward with Jin's strained pace.

Jin stalled in mid air, over the water with a third left to go before he was in an area to safely land on the ground.

"Come on! Breathe! And push yourself!" Naruto yelled out as he moved on ahead, dropping down to the ground.

Jin yelled out in pain, but continued to place one arm in front of the other, his eyes focused on his destination.

Naruto hid his smile well as he witnessed Jin cross the land and water threshold before letting go of the beam above him letting him drop down. He laid unceremoniously for a couple moments on the ground before rising up on shaky legs, his hands on his hips while he panted heavily.

He had never taught anyone. And frankly he doubt he every really would. He had grown smarter over the years in regards to shinobi techniques. However he was still by all means a person that simply knew how to subconsciously apply his knowledge. He was able to do things many shinobi could not because he simply didn't think about what he wanted to do. Yet at the same time that also made him a horrible teacher.

For example he knew how to many the Rasengan. However he had no idea as to what step by step process he would go through to teach it to someone. He just sort of thought things through himself.

Yet as he saw Jin exhausted, but on his feet. The pain in his eyes along with the pride of accomplishment. He honestly wished he had taught some students if this was the feeling he got when he witnessed them accomplish things. He could actually have some sort of understanding as to why Uzuki had put up with him for so long.

"I don't get it!" Jin said through panted breaths breaking Naruto from his thoughts.

"Get what?" Naruto asked curiously busy looking out for any potential threats, not paying much attention to Jin.

"How are you not tired after all of that? You don't even look winded." Jin said as he hunched over for a moment before turning back upright taking large breaths of the cold air.

Naruto fought down a snort and opted to simply leave out the majority of the truth, "I'm in better shape than you." Naruto replied plainly.

Jin scoffed, "Bullshit! You don't look like you're in any better shape than me. You aren't even breathing heavy in the slightest."

Naruto actually snorted at that. '_Chakra condenses your muscles. Few shinobi ever grow large unless they were decendents of the Raikage in Kumogakure.'_ Naruto thought to himself always finding it funny how there were some shinobi smaller than him that could uproot the largest of trees. "Probably because I just had to follow your trail around while you actually had to do the work." Naruto said bluntly while shrugging his shoulders at his blatant lie.

Jin squeezed his eyes shut at that really wanting to give the blonde a piece of his mind, but he didn't even have the energy for it at this point.

Jin took a deep breath as he stood up straight on shaky legs, "But seriously." he began before taking a deep breath as he situated his hands on his hips. "What the hell are you doing here man?"

Naruto tightened his jaw at the question. He couldn't honestly answer that question himself. He had put the times where he went out of the way to help people he didn't know long behind him. The fact that he was doing anything of the sort at that current moment was more than enough to give his own mind pause.

In part due to his tired body he wanted to just be spiteful and say he was merely there for the crossbow. That he didn't care about the well being of the people he surrounded himself with. However that would be a lie, something that in his exhaustion he was getting tired of doing.

_"I don't lie Naruto. I stopped telling lies after Yahiko's death. Lies hurt people and they are hard to keep track of."' the blue haired former Akatsuki said calmly as she held a hand out in the rain from a balcony overlooking Amegakure._

_"But the truth hurts people as well Konan." Naruto replied as he leaned against the metal construction that made up the walls of Amegakure. His mind drifting to the moment when Mizuki revealed to him he was the Kyuubi Jinchuriki. The moment when he discovered the truth of his parents. The moment Yugao had beaten down his ability as a shinobi._

_Konan pursed her lips, nibbling lightly on the piercing on the inside of her lip. "Yes the truth hurts as well." she admitted. "However I suppose it just comes down to if you can handle lying to those close to you."_

_Naruto spared Konan a glance as she stood across from him before he turned his attention back to the storm, "They'll live." Naruto said quietly, thinking of the people he left behind as he left Konoha._

_Konan stood up straight at that before wiping her hand off on her cloak. "It isn't a question of whether or not the people around you will live Naruto." Konan said seriously as she turned to the fifteen year old teen that lacked experience, but had power beyond his years. "The question is whether or not you will be able to live with yourself and your lies forever."_

Naruto clenched his jaw at the memory uncontrollably faded into his thoughts.

"I don't know. I guess I was curious as to why you left. Figured it had to be important if you were willing to threaten me with your crossbow. That and you were running off with a weapon." Naruto admitted, telling the honest truth.

Jin looked at the blonde with a raised eyebrow as he steadied his breathing. He searched the blonde's face in the darkness for any hints of deception before nodding his head. He slung the strap holding his crossbow a bit higher on his shoulder before point out past Naruto's form. "Alright, well I'm headed that way." Jin said as he continued once again on his journey. Although that was completely stopped short by Naruto.

"Not without telling me why." Naruto said in a tone that left no room for argument.

Jin looked down at the hand on his chest blocking him from proceeding before turning to the blonde shinobi beside him. In most cases he wouldn't have stopped moving if it were anyone else, particularly at school. He was a bit of a giant at his Highschool standing a good head over everyone else. However Naruto seemed quite close to his own height, and given the fact that the blonde didn't even look the slightest bit winded from a workout Jin was sure he thought would kill him mere moments before? He wasn't too keen on crotch checking the blonde beside him.

"A family friend." Jin said a bit reluctantly. "She lives a few miles from here." he added as he spared the blonde his gaze.

Naruto tightened his jaw at that. Family friend? That wasn't something he was ever privileged to have in the typical sense. Although he understood the concept of going through hell and back for his loved ones and those he considered family. Particularly the shinobi he had come to see as his own family on his ANBU squad.

Naruto looked back across the dark side of the bridge in the direction he had left numerous teenage civilians he had told himself that he would protect. Hundreds of thoughts and scenarios flooded through the blonde's mind. Would they be alright? Would zombies break in? Would some crazy like at the gas station show up? Heck, would ninja from his time show up and terrorize them? Anything could happen in a world he knew nothing about.

_'Yet..._' Naruto thought to himself with a pause as his gaze connected with Jin's. _'If I can't help some teen find a simple family friend? I may not be cut out to lead here after all.'_ Naruto finished dryly.

"Alright then. However if we are going to do this? We are going to do it safe and quickly. My way." Naruto reaffirmed at the end.

Jin straightened up at the unexpected help he realized he was about to receive, "Are you sure? What about everyone back at the house?" Jin asked, not willing to get into something with someone who may bail on him half way through.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders as he thought about the question. There was frankly a lot of gray areas for him when he thought about the crew he had left sleeping at the house. If he were being perfectly honest? He would be better off without the group. The only thing tying him down to it was the promises he had made and the weak bonds he had formed. "I'm sure they will be fine." Naruto said dismissively not wanting to share his personal thoughts on the matter.

Jin took a moment before he nodded, putting his crossbow into his grasp. "Alright, then come on. However keep quiet." he said before he began moving out from under the bridge in a low crouch.

Naruto didn't feel the need to tell the boy that his footsteps were about as subtle as a thunder storm to his ears.

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Guess who's back? Back again... Bleed is back... Tell a friend...

But on a more serious note. I have been sitting on this chapter for awhile. I have just been slowly writing away on the story. I at first was intending for it to just be Naruto and Jin. However the constant back to back two person scenes with the same characters slowly drove me insane. So I went back and reevaluated the chapters. Often times going back and adding in additional scenes with the rest of the cast.

The update speed is a bit slower mainly because right now I'm essentially writing an entire non-canon side arc. So the readers essentially have no mental image or anything to reference when they are viewing the scenes. So I am just trying to work slowly on it while making the area come alive I suppose. I want the place to be a believable environment.

So skimming over this chapter, this looks like the Naruto tailing Jin segment? You see a bit of Naruto's past, as well as him getting some personal respect for Jin even if he is annoyed with him.

In regards to Naruto's past. I am constantly having to evaluate what I want to do in those situations, and how I want to make the characters develop. I think I did justice to Naruto's early days trying to join ANBU. Trying to make the believable transition from the Naruto we know in canon to the Naruto you see here. I just hope you enjoyed it. If not? Tell me what I can work on to further improve.

**One thing to note, and I am bolding this now before I really get into her character. Alice is going to be older in this story. She is going to be maybe 10 or 11. There are reasons why, but I'm not going to get into them. Frankly this changes nothing in the story thus far. And really changes nothing in how things have been dealt with. It merely changes her age.**

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Now some questions.

**"Bleed! Y U NO UPDATE?"**

Trollface . jpg

**"Bleed, will Naruto get his powers back? Will he get a girl?"**

I won't answer some questions like the first, as it is a major plot point. I think it is pretty obvious that one of the plots in this story is him trying to get his powers back, and get back home. However as I said. It's a major plot point, so I won't say how or if that ever gets resoled. Yes Naruto will get a girl. I'm not sure who he will get though. I haven't really decided. Whoever fits the best will end up with him in some sort of fashion. And it won't necessarily be the first girl he may get close to either. So we will have to see.

**"1337 items list"**

Thank you everyone that gave me a list of household items. I actually will be using some of these at a later date for sure. Admittedly some of them couldn't really be used in the given circumstances. However others will definitely be making their appearance. I doubt I will ever really say it in the story, unless it is a passing note. However essentially the house they went into at least in my opinion belonged to a fun lesbian couple with a knack for for art, particularly costumes. Naturally you won't see them in the story. However I just wanted to give the house a personality I suppose, despite it being empty. So some items listed, I couldn't necessarily do.

**"Why doesn't Naruto just cut off his hand and remove the shackle?"**

Well Naruto doesn't know a thing about the shackle. He believes it has capabilities to send him to another world though. However he knows nothing beyond that outside of the fact that it reacts to his chakra. So for all he knows, i may slide up his arm if he cut off his hand trying to remove the thing. Another thing of note is that if he can't reattach his hand? He can't do any ninjutsu. So if he were to get the shackle off, and then go home? If he can't do any jutsu and is handicapped while fighting? He is still pretty much as useless as being outright absent.

**"Cloud's MIA lifestream dive, not caring about other characters outside of Naruto."**

Yes I understand where people can definitely get that idea going through their head. I bet a lot more people know of Naruto than they know of Highschool of the Dead. So I can understand the frustration.

However when I'm writing this Zombie Apocalypse story. I'm writing it a bit like The Walking Dead(Comic) or Mass Effect. Character driven, with influence from the protagonist. The reality is that even though you may not necessarily like it? Every character needs to be built up. Drama in the story essentially is the audience wanting to see characters they know or like succeed, and not wanting to see them fail.

However in fan fiction there is always the unspoken idea that "Naruto never dies." so building up Naruto over and over and over. While it may be interesting? It is not going to provide a lot of drama in the long run. He is not going to die. So if I focus solely on Naruto and neglect other people? Where is the drama? What if Naruto is pressed by time, and has to save someone? Yet that "Someone" I decided to never build up as a character? Suddenly it doesn't matter whether she lives or dies. And suddenly the scene doesn't matter because you know Naruto isn't going to die in it.

So what stops the average reader from skimming over a scene? Not because they are invested in Naruto. But because they are invested in the characters around Naruto, and they don't want to see them fail, or die on Naruto's watch. They don't want to see Naruto go through the emotional struggle if he fails. They care about what happens not only to Naruto, but the character as well.

So while people may say, "I don't care about these characters. This is boring. Bring Naruto back." The reality is that while you may not see it now? You are going to wish the characters were built up instead of being neglected in the long run for the above mentioned reasons. Otherwise the story will end up dull.

(Ever been into one of those stories that focuses heavily on Naruto? However 40chapters in you start skimming over his fights, because you already know "The hero never dies." yet once you start skimming over all the bad things that could happen to Naruto? You realize there isn't much more to the story? Yes? No? Well bottom line I don't want that to happen here.)

**Anyways that is enough questions answered here. Tell me what you thought of the chapter. In particular, did you enjoy Naruto's memories with Yugao? Or do you have any ideas on how I could improve it? Anyways Read and Review.**


	13. A Sickness of the Soul

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead

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**Present Time**

Saeko snapped up from her seated position on the kitchen counter. The sword that was formerly in her lap was in her hand in an instant as the front door slammed open.

"Don't fucking speak to me Takashi!" was the cry of Rei that Saeko heard quite clearly as the sound of stomping footsteps flooded through the house entrance.

Saeko quickly moved to the inside stairway right near the entrance. "Miyamoto-san?" Saeko questioned in a deal of surprise at the earlier outburst.

Rei gave Saeko a heated glare, but said nothing as she brushed passed the purple haired swordswoman and stomped up the stairs.

Saeko pursed her lips at the sight but before Rei made it all the way up, she felt it would be important to point out a key detail. "Miyamoto-san, Shido-san is sleeping upstairs!" she didn't say it for Shido's personal comfort, but more so due to the girl's obvious problems with the teacher.

Rei paused mid way up the stairs as she heard that. Saeko could only watch the girl's face darken considerably before she looked downstairs before schooling her features and continuing up the stairs.

Saeko looked on in concealed surprise as Rei went on into the room Shido resided in regardless. She turned her head to the door at that moment just in time to see a defeated looking Takashi walk through the door.

"Komuro-kun? What happened to Miyamoto-san?" Saeko asked in an ever polite tone that she always utilized.

Takashi's face gained a gravely look at that. "It's nothing Busuj-" he caught himself as he recalled the conversation he shared with the purple haired female just the other night, "Saeko-san." he corrected.

Saeko smiled weakly at the brown haired boy who remembered her request. Although that didn't stop from the next question to catch her off guard a bit.

"Saeko-san, when I spoke to you the other night. I told you something." Takashi said with a frown as he cast his glance upstairs.

"That you felt that Miyamoto-san was hiding things from you?" Saeko asked for clarification.

Takashi turned his head back to face the purple haired team member, "Yeah..." Takashi admitted slowly. "Well when I asked you about that, you gave me some advice..." Takashi said again as if he was treading carefully.

"Relax Komuro-kun. I remember our conversation." Saeko said as she crossed her arms over her chest, this time considerably more clothed.

Takashi pursed his lips, "Well you told me that at times girls were weak. That sometimes they just need to let their emotions out, and be held in trying times." Takashi said with a heavy heart.

Saeko nodded as she cast a glance upstairs before adopting a knowing look. "I'm guessing you had a fight with Miyamoto-san?" Saeko asked sadly.

Takashi sighed before replying, "Something like that."

Saeko gave an understanding smile before she teased trying to lighten the mood, "It's not admirable for boys to sigh Komuro-kun."

Takashi smiled lightly at that, "Well you will have to cut me some slack today Saeko-san." Takashi replied as he straightened up. "So you say girls want to be held in trying times Saeko-san, does that include you?"

Saeko's smile weakened a bit as the question she was able to dodge the night before was asked of her once again. "Yes Komuro." she said weakly, "Even me."

Takashi paused as he thought over the brown haired girl upstairs. "Would you still want to be held like that if the reason you were upset was because of the person holding you?" Takashi asked seriously as he looked Saeko in the eyes.

Saeko tensed for a moment on that note as she thought it over. Particularly as she thought over her time with _him_. "Well Komuro-kun... I would. Although... I'm not like most girls Komuro." Saeko said quietly, before walking away no longer wanting to take the discussion down that road.

Takashi bit the insides of his cheeks in thought as he looked up the staircase to the level of the house Rei undoubtedly would be. Then on top of that, what he felt was more important to ask himself. Did he even want to go up there and try to mend things?

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"Damn." Jin cursed in a whisper as he glanced away from what he just witnessed. "This is the third street in a row that is crawling with these damn things." he spat out in frustration.

Naruto said nothing as he merely admired their situation and looked for any possible ways around the sights before them. Just because he had shown Rei a great deal about himself, and the fact that she had accepted him didn't mean others would. Most likely Jin, the headstrong teen that he was, would probably blab about any skills he showcased to everyone. At least in the current state of things.

Naruto wasn't keen on becoming the groups cornerstone, and had no intention of straying anywhere near that position.

"Maybe one of these cars has the owner near by, or we could search a house for some keys." Jin voiced his thoughts as he aimed his readied crossbow to the ground.

Naruto pursed his lips at that thought. That was basically taking a gamble with a huge chance for it to just be wasted time. And as far as Naruto could tell? Time was the most important currency in this given world. How much time are you willing to put into something, and how much time you can afford to put into something.

"What about that?" Naruto asked slowly, pointing towards a larger vehicle with an attachment that stood out quite clearly. It had seemingly crashed onto the sidewalk phone pole, and scaped up against one of the house's stone walls.

"The cable truck?" Jin asked with a raised eyebrow. He had truthfully had his sights set on the few cars parked behind the gated fences. They were the safest to deal with in his opinion. The cable truck was wide out in the open.

Naruto nodded his head not entirely sure what the difference between a car and a cable truck was. He could only hope that Jin was thinking along the same lines as him.

Jin clenched his jaw as he thought over the suggestion. "I don't know. Out of all of the cars on the street, that one is the least likely to find keys for. I mean if we find someone in a cable outfit, then sure I mean we could go for it. However it doesn't change the fact that its wide in the open, and we lack the keys for it. One of the cars behind some of the fences in the area would probably be better to drive."

Naruto shook his head. From everything he had learned of 'cars' in this world, he had personally grown a bit of a dislike for them. Sure there was potential in them such as a means of quickly transporting civilians. However it made the few being transported sitting ducks as far as he was concerned. "I wasn't talking about... driving." he said quietly as to not alert the zombies not far from them. "I meant using that." Naruto finished pointing his finger.

Jin's gaze followed Naruto's finger as it lead him to not specifically the cable car, but the large extending ladder that rested on top of it. Jin turned back to Naruto with a bit of surprise, however Naruto didn't stop talking.

"The ladder seems to collapse so it would be easy to carry it if we really needed to. I think we should use it to get up onto the roofs. This seems to be a residential area. The roofs around here are only a handful of feet apart. We can jump the roof gaps while staying clear of the zombies below, and keeping a good watch on the street." Naruto said as he did his best to tactically analyze the situation with Jin in mind, which was by all means an astounding handicap.

Jin's eyebrows had momentarily rose to his hairline as he looked over the idea Naruto had apparently gained from simply observing this street for the first time. '_I went down this street nearly every day coming home from school. Why didn't I think of something as simple as that.'_ Jin thought to himself with a frown.

Jin looked around once again trying to give his head a clean and clear perspective of his surroundings before shaking his head in failure. The only thing that would be even remotely useful was-

"There is a childhood rope swing on the second house down the street, we could collect that as it would probably be of use." Naruto mumbled under his breath. The rope wouldn't really be much use to _him_ in his opinion, however perhaps it may save Jin's life.

Jin recovered briefly from his thoughts seemingly being read as he nodded his head. "Yeah, never know when that could be useful. Wouldn't want to have to use a _bedsheet_." he said, dragging out the final word.

Naruto was unfazed at the jab to his role in hanging the teenager. He didn't care what world he was in, as far as he was concerned forcing one's self on a women was a no brainer taboo. There were few exceptions to that rule, such as the few nomadic barbarian camps in Kusa or Suna. And even then, Naruto had to admit he found them a bit distasteful.

Naruto abruptly stood up with a purpose only for his vision to swim as faded images of memories passed flooded his vision.

_"Uzumaki! Hatake! We recovered a former Team 7 member that has been MIA for nearly fifteen years!" An Anbu said as he walked across Naruto's field of vision before disappearing._

_"Naruto... we captured one of the resurrected. She goes by the name of Haku, she wishes to speak with you." Yugao's voice said in Naruto's ear as if she was standing at his shoulder._

_"Naruto-kun, you've grown so much." was the soft voice of a faded image in the distance. "I wish I could have been there. And Kakashi-kun? Long time." she finished in a regretful voice._

_"You have no idea." was the easily recognizable voice of the silver haired jounin practically choking on her words._

_"There is something you need to know about your enemy who calls himself 'Tobi'. He's not who he says he is Naruto." a young woman said quietly._

_"Naruto! We need to get out of here! Shes gone! We can't save her!" was the cry from Shikamaru that Naruto remembered all too well._

"Naruto!" Jin yelled at the top of his lungs from the top of the cable car, forcing the blonde back to reality.

Naruto's eyes snapped open as he realized that he had a good seven zombies closing in on him from all directions, nearly in lunging distance.

Naruto bit out a curse as he took an abrupt step back away from a zombie that had taken to lunging at him. "Fuck off." Naruto spat out slowly as he yanked open the near by car door in the process.

The bottom corner of the door clipped the lunging zombie right at the back of his knee. It stumbled to the ground, only for his face to get acquainted to Naruto's knee mid fall.

Naruto kicked the car door back, only serving to cause a zombie to rebound and stumble backwards from the impact.

Naruto held his head as a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over his senses. A feeling he was quickly becoming more familiar with than he would have liked.

Naruto vaulted over the car, toward Jin and away from the zombies. He pinched the bridge of his nose before shaking his head trying to regain focus. He wish he knew why the sudden spell of dizzy exhaustion had been nearly absent, only to hit him like train moments later.

"Naruto! Any day now!" was Jin's yell that attracted Naruto's attention. It only became apparent to the blonde that his earlier yell had attracted far more attention than just his own. There was a good horde of the dead approaching the teen on top of the car. Albeit they were moving at a slow pace. If the teen wasn't waiting for someone, Naruto was sure he could just as easily jog away from the scene and be fine.

Naruto wasted no time, his zoning out forcing him to forget the rope, and focus on preserving their lives in the mean time. Naruto rushed over to the teen who no longer felt he had any time to waste.

Jin unfolded the ladder quickly on top of the car, before letting it drop between the roof of the car and the stone wall that guarded off the house instead of opting to use the gate.

Jin had taken to begin wobbling across the ladder by the time Naruto had safely arrived. "Grab the cable wire!" Jin said quickly, despite his stress even though he had reached the wall.

Naruto felt a lump rise in his throat as he looked down with bleary eyes. However that didn't stop him from bending over to capture the neat coil of cord. He honestly doubted he was in any shape to be giving orders or questioning things at the moment.

However it was then as he picked up that cord that he found at least part of the reason he was seemingly feeling sick.

The shackle, his ball and chain to this world was no longer the standard steel gray color he had become used to. It was riddled with bright red scalding cracks that looked as if they were trying to tear the damn thing asunder. It was even dripping _red fluid_.

_'Oh wait... That's my blood.'_ Naruto thought as he fought with his own body rejecting him.

Naruto spared the ladder no mind as he was suddenly having trouble standing on his feet effectively.

He opted to leap the small gap between the car, and the gated yard. He made the utmost care in kicking the back end of the ladder forcing it to tip like a tree into the yard behind him. Although the impressive feat fell on deaf ears as Naruto entered the yard.

Naruto collapsed to his hands and knees as he gripped at the dirt and grass beneath his fingertips. He closed his eyes as he breathed heavily. He was just telling himself not to throw up at the moment.

Naruto looked up ahead of his with glazed eyes on for his breath to be caught in his throat.

_'It can't be...'_ he thought despite his strained patentience.

_A character dressed in white with a head of blonde hair stared down upon Naruto with it's hazy image. However it didn't stick around long as it all but faded away in an instantaneous yellow flash._

_"Get up! I knew you were weak! I didn't know you were this weak!" a female voice taunted through the halls of Naruto's mind._

_"I thought that was the last time I was ever going to see you..." Naruto thought to himself despite the pain throughout his body._

_"I thought so too... I guess we both thought wrong eh?" the blonde haired blue eyed image said with a weak smirk. "Just make sure you tend to your arm. No point in dying to due to your stubborn unattentiveness." the ghostly voice echoed it's suggestion in Naruto's mind._

_"But... how?" Naruto struggled to think in his head as he looked down at the shackle doing his best to swallow the lump in his throat._

_The blonde hair blue eyed apparation rolled it's eyes with a scoff. "Figure it out. I can't bail you out every time Naruto... but I know you can do it." was all it said before fading out of existence._

_"Wait!" Naruto pleaded. However it was to no avail._

Naruto's eyes regained the light they once held as the entire sick and unsettling feeling he held surrounding him faded in an instant. However as the entire group of sensations he had felt mere moments before vanished? They left him with one sickening feeling on his tongue that he had formerly been trying to suppress.

However it was the feeling of the skin on his arm being burned under the shackle that did it for him.

Bile spewed from Naruto's mouth as he heaved and attempted to let loose contents from Naruto's nearly empty stomach. The sight of a few strands of noodles littering the ground in a clear but foggy puddle on the ground was not the most pleasing one.

"Were you bitten?" Naruto heard Jin ask cautiously from the left of him.

Naruto spared the taller teen a glance with one eye, only to catch sight of a notched crossbow bolt.

"No." Naruto growled out in annoyance. As far he was concerned, if he was bitten by any of the things walking around, no one would have to kill him. He would kill himself. He no longer deserved to be a ninja at that point. "However if you keep pointing that damn thing at me, I may fire it off up your ass." he bit out in a frustrated tone as he pushed himself to his feet.

Jin appeared to size the blonde up for a moment before tightening his jaw. It was a rapid change. One minute the blonde was spewing his guts out onto the floor. The next he was appearing completely and utterly unfazed. No sigh of fatigue in the slightest. The only even remotely notable sigh of his former state was the slightest bit of sweat on his face. Even that bracelet or whatever the blonde was wearing that for all he could tell was catching the light in an odd way had since ceased.

And so Jin ceased. He lowered his crossbow and swung it onto his back with a respectful nod despite the blonde's less than respectful tone. "Are you good to move?" Jin asked with minimal concern in his voice.

Naruto shot an annoyed look up to the sky as he turned his body away from Jin to grab the ladder.

'_Great...'_ Naruto drawled in his mind, _'This kid is going to act like I have a weak stomach for the rest of my fucking days.'_ Naruto thought as he lifted the ladder with one hand.

Naruto flung the ladder from his position toward the wall of the house, watching it rocket and fold up against it violently. The act even caused a great deal of the wall he threw the ladder against to chip away under the force. "Perfectly fine." Naruto said through clenched teeth before quickly playing the part of a civilian and scaling the wall with a ladder.

Jin grimaced and gave one last glance to the gate behind him, holding back a horde of death and decay before proceeding on with their journey. He only hoped that the remainder wasn't as stressful as it had been thus far.

He turned his gaze to Naruto now standing on the roof. He frowned lightly as a thought passed through him, _'I hope whatever happened here...'_ he thought as his gaze turned to the puddle of bodily fluids on the ground, _'Doesn't happen again...'_

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"Wow... now that is not what I was expecting to find." Miku said as she joined a portion of their group gathered in a room of the house they were exploring.

Saito, Kohta, and Saya were all split up amongst various areas of the room looking at a large variety of assorted items hung up on tables and walls around the rooms.

"So I got that they were a rather artsy couple. However this... this is impressive." Kohta mumbled under his breath as he ran his hand over a large metal plate.

"They must have been costume designers for some place." Saito said as he traced his hand over a barbaric outfit.

Saya pushed her glasses up further before she shook her head. "No, they made these costumes for themselves. They must have cosplayed at conventions or something."

Saito raised an eyebrow as he turned to the pink haired star student, "How do you figure that?" he asked in a neutral tone.

Saya frowned as she looked over a dress laid out on the closest work bench. "When we went upstairs in search of medicine, one of the rooms had a costume hanging from the wall. I thought the couple was well..." She paused as a light blush appeared on her face. "Well regardless, in short most of these costumes are of high quality, particularly the dresses. They would need to be tailored to size, a size that matches some of the clothing we have seen around the house already." Saya replied simply as she let go of the fabric.

"However that is not why we're here." she said as she turned away to the work bench, and pointed to Kohta.

The said boy blushed under the scrutiny, particularly the attention from his crush.

"Miyamoto pointed out that metal plate to me earlier. She figured it was likely used to make some of the various pieces of armor around the room. However I feel that we could use the metal plate to reinforce the the car somehow, and I need a few people to help do that." Saya said in a commanding tone.

Saito frowned at that, "Couldn't we use the plate to create melee weapons for the rest of the group? The car seems pretty strong as it is."

Saya sighed heavily at that, "Melee weapons are unfavorable. They are inferior to the ranged weapons we have recently gained. On top of that they are useless against a horde of _them_. So unless you are as skilled as Busujima-san? We aren't going to be making melee weapons. Besides... if you really want one, look around. They are pretty common."

Saito held his hands up in defense. He was only giving a suggestion. He personally wasn't much of a fighter. Tech was his thing. Physical performance? Not so much.

"What about this?" Miku called out from the corner of the room, her hand gripping a wrapped leather handle.

Everyone in the room turned to the short haired girl, as they watched her grab the handle of something with both hands, and heaved it up. "Fuck this thing is heavy." she bit out with clenched teeth.

"Woah..." was all Kohta could say in regards to the sight before him, and it summed up the thoughts of everyone else in the room.

Miku despite the heavy weight of the blade was amused. "I didn't know cosplay supported real swords?" she said to not one in particular with a bit of humor in her tone. "The couple that lived here were quite interesting."

The sword was great in size. Remarkably so. The blade was easily four feet long, perhaps a tad bit longer. It was crude as well. It was covered in scratch marks. The former elegance the blade likely had after being forged had completely faded away. Even parts of the edge of the greatsword had chipped away, as if it had been used in a considerable amount of battles.

However the thing that truly made the blade stand out was it's sheer weight along with it's size. It was no doubt a real blade even if the edges had been dulled, and the blade appeared battle worn.

Miku couldn't even begin to guess the weight of the blade, except that it was just for show. She knew that if any grown man attempted to use the weapon for any extended period of time, they would probably wear out. At least, that was what she believed. She could be wrong, and Jin may be able to swing the sword for days on end. Although she personally felt that was doubtful.

Saya admired the blade for a few moments before shaking her head. As far as she was concerned, anything that didn't have any practical use wasn't worth a second glance.

"Do you think Busujima-san would be able to wield that?" Saito asked as he eyed the blade.

"To heavy." was a reply that came at the same time by both Kohta and Saya. Although the reactions to the situation differed drastically.

Kohta shrunk under the gaze of the group in the room, silently wishing he hadn't opened his mouth. On the other hand, there was Saya, who had taken to glaring a the young brown haired glasses wearing teen. However it was just in an instant that the tension that was formerly there had all but vanished as Saya chose to speak out.

"Anyways there are enough tools in my bag, and around the house in order to attach this thing. I just need some extra hands that know how to listen." Saya said slowly as she looked around the group. She hoped one of them would step up, she was in no mood to even think about talking to Komuro.

"Don't bother sticking around Pinky. I can do it." Miku called out as she rested the heavy dull blade against the wall.

This garnered a collection of raised eyebrows from the other individuals in the room.

"Seriously?" Saito asked, not entirely believing the brown haired girl.

Miku rolled her eyes, before putting her hands on her hips, "I've worked on or around cars since I was eight. I know what I'm doing." she spat out bitterly.

Despite that being said, the rest of the group still seemed quite skeptical at the idea, judging from their looks. A fact that didn't leave Miku in the best of moods.

"Or fuck it. You all can figure it out." she ground out as she stomped over to the doorway of the room.

Saya stepped into the shorter haired girl's path with a raised hand. "No it's fine. If you can do it, that's great." she said albeit reluctantly. It was evident from the moment the two were forced to lock eyes that they were probably the other's least liked person in their group. Not to mention the earlier events with Takashi.

A staring contest ensued between the couple as they maintained an unwavering of the eyes. Kohta and Saito were off to the sides shooting occasional worried glances between each other. They didn't really want to get in the way if some sort of fight broke out, particularly in a room full of tools like the one they were currently in.

"Great." Miku said through her teeth, barely moving her mouth as she stood face to face with the pink haired star student. "I can do it myself..."

Saya put up a strong front with the other girl no more than a foot away from her. However she wasn't planning on starting a fight with the other teen.

"Why don't you go see your boyfriend Takashi?" Miku taunted with a dirty smirk.

_'Planning...'_ Saya thought bitterly as she clenched her right fist fully prepared to let her hand fly across the girl's face.

"Well now Kohta! Why don't you stick with Miku and help her with anything she needs! I'm going to take Saya, and we will see if we can find anything else of value in other houses." Saito said, forcing himself between the two girls as he practically forced Saya to leave the room.

Miku's grin threatened to split her cheeks as she watched Saya dragged away. She even gave an overexaggerated playful wave that included her wagging all of her fingers as the girl looked at her from over Saito's shoulder.

The few moments of silence were broken shortly after by the short chubby brown haired teen.

"Why do you keep starting fights with the group?" Kohta asked with a frown coming onto his face.

Miku turned and looked over her shoulder, forcing herself to stop admiring her own work in her mind. "What?" she asked casually in an almost dangerous tone, a bit shocked that Hirano of all people would be calling her on something. As far as she was concerned, he had always been the boy that was bullied and teased while he remained in the shadows. He was by all means nothing special. Where he got off on calling her on something was frankly ridiculous.

Kohta's fist clenched briefly as he took a deep breath. He was standing before one of his many tormentors in school. _'Deep breaths Hirano.'_ he thought to himself as he closed his eyes. "You heard me." he said with a tight jaw.

Miku rolled her eyes at the reply. Yeah, she had heard him. However that didn't mean she was going to give the teen the time of day. "Whatever, we need to get the car over here. I'm not carrying the plate." she commented before walking out of the room. She honestly wished she had been stuck with Komuro for help... even though it would probably... hopefully... end up in not much work getting finished.

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"Not the most charming parts of town." Naruto said in mild amusement as he walked down the ruined streets. The real question about the current area he was in was if the streets were ruined after the outbreak... or before it.

Jin appeared a bit embarrassed at that note as he looked around the street. Sure enough there were blood stains, and guts splattered on the street and sidewalk. However having been down this street before in the past, while it may not look it, he knew the boarded up windows and locked gated fences were there before everything happened.

The broken and flickering street lights in the darkness. The smell of gasoline and smoke filling the air.

"Must be some family friend of yours for them to live here." Naruto said quietly as they walked down the street. Something was slightly off as far as Naruto was concerned. There were plenty of blood stains and guts. Some wrecked cars and broken windows. However no one was out on the streets. There were no zombies. Yet there were also no people either. It was like they were walking down a street that not just people, but everything feared to tread.

Jin frowned as he took in those worlds with the surroundings. "Yeah well she ran into some financial trouble when her husband died. So she was forced to move here from some of the friendlier areas of town. She was one of those 'Stay at home' wives. So her work experience had become outdated. However she has always looked after me until recently, so I owe it to her to at least go and get her." Jin said with his eyes forward, a determined look coming onto his face.

Naruto weighed the teens words as the continued walking down the barren streets of the rather seedy area of town.

"Do you live here as well?" Naruto asked casually, holding back the frown that threatened to grace his face. The place they were walking through was completely foreign and yet at the same time sadly familiar. The run down houses and buildings. The graffiti covering various walls and light posts. The ground was thick with litter, from soda cans to finished cigarettes.

Where he grew up in Konoha, and stayed until he had joined ANBU was a ruined residential district which later became the "Red Light District 2.0" in his early years. The Kyuubi never made it to Konoha's doorstep. Not like many of the new generation were lead to believe, and were told about the 'Oh so terrible monster'. The idea of Kyuubi wrecking havoc on the village itself for hours on end like some of the tales made it out to be were ridiculous.

However what did indeed happen was the tale of the Kyuubi's tails crushing mountains and causing Tsunamis? Those tales weren't that far off. However even then, they were still tales. During the Kyuubi attack, the residential district he ended up growing up in was the closest to the Kyuubi's earliest position. The earth around the buildings was heavily and quickly supplemented by weak support earthen support beams. This was so the earth users in Konoha could create numerous defenses, as well as stall the fox, and in truth... it worked.

Although once the giant fox started thrashing about, and slamming it's tails into the ground. The weakened foundations of the apartments and homes collapsed, and entire districts were wiped out.

Later on the former red light district which was essentially the area furthest from both the Uchiha Clan Police Force, and the Hokage Tower had changed.

Although while not the greatest place to grow up, Naruto would surely admit. Living in an apartment complex frequented by a wide range of common flesh peddlers, to fancy call girls. From smugglers to drug dealers that often sold shinobi licensed drugs. Naruto liked to think the entire experience made him stronger, and frankly prepared him for the days when he had to interact with the more "civilized" areas of Konoha.

In the district he lived in? No one payed attention to him. Very few actually gave a damn about him. Outside of the few call girls from all walks of life that would spare him a few dollars, as he later in life found them to be. The fact that he grew up with people ignoring him just because they had better things to do prepared him for being ignored for housing the Kyuubi. A fact that allowed him to stay virtually ignorant for the majority of his days at the academy. He still wasn't quite sure how he felt about that part.

Jin had stayed silent the entire time Naruto continued along his train of thought.

"Well?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow as they turned a corner, only to view another barren street.

Jin was closing and opening his fists impatiently as he sped up his step toward a particular house with a metal gated fence, and dying plants. "It's there." Jin said as he tightened his jaw on the move, his eyes scanning around as he approached the gate.

However upon arrival, Naruto's eyes narrowed as he caught a piece of information from the mailbox.

_J. A. Homura_

_Michiko Homura_

_J. J. Homura_

"Family friend?" Naruto asked dryly as he ran his fingers over the small nameplates on the mailbox.

Jin grimaced as he spared the blonde a glance over his shoulder, before proceeding on without a word as he drew his crossbow.

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Rei grit her teeth as she stormed up stairs in her effort to escape Takashi. '_That fool! That idiot! The idea! The sheer fucking idea! 'Are you mad?' _Rei scoffed at the thought. _'Of course I'm fucking mad.'_ she told herself bitterly, even though she knew Takashi would never hear it. Not to say that the point hadn't been broadcasted clearly by then.

Rei upon arrival upstairs bit the inside of her lip at the sight on the bed right beside here. There was Shido, sleeping in as comfortable of a slumber as one could achieve with a broken nose. Draped across his chest was a young dark haired student that clung to the older male like a life line. In a chair beside the bed, Shizuka gave Rei a very weak smile upon seeing her enter the room. She had been digging in her small medical purse for stronger medication. However all she had ended up finding seemed to be along the lines of brand names such as Advil or Ibeprofin.

Rei's features tightened as she looked at the teacher who had ruined her school life, and brought shame upon her family. It was really no laughing matter. And yet she couldn't help herself from almost being amused with how ridiculous the situation was. It was no longer a question of her hating Shido. She doubted that would ever change. However with everything that had happened, everything that had been revealed to her.

The situation with Jin. Takashi being an idiot. Naruto dropping an otherworldly bomb on her. Her near rape experience. The tense situation between her and the other girls in the house ever since that failed bathroom experience. The thought of finding and reuniting with her father.

The idea of petty highschool grudges had suddenly become so small in her eyes. She didn't quite know how to feel about that idea. Did that just mean she had already come to terms with leaving her old life behind her? Or was she merely temporarily adapting to her knew one?

Rei returned her smile to Shizuka as she stepped out onto the balcony and closed the sliding door behind her.

"Miyamoto." a voice said plainly the moment she made her way onto the balcony.

Rei stood up straighter at being addressed before allowing her eyes to fall on the platinum blonde hair that belonged to the rather enigmatic Sinjah Ayane. She sat in a small but comfortable beach reclining chair that had seemed to find it's home on the balcony. She sat with her legs crossed, her hands clutching an item gently in her lap, her eyes closed. Her breathing seemed to be under stress, as if she was forcing herself to focus and remember how to breath correctly.

If Rei were perfectly honest, the girl amused yet confused her all at the same time. She very rarely talked at all, and the only person she seemed to even care the slightest about was Naruto. Approaching her on virtually any subject was only rewarded a cold gaze, and almost immediate dismissal.

Despite all of the clothes in the house being laid out before the group, she had simply opted to dress in essentially workout clothes. She wore purple sweatpants with a black hooded sweatshirt. It contrasted quite heavily with the girl's hair. Although she didn't seem to care that much about that. It was no different that Naruto's completely black attire meeting his golden blonde hair.

"Hello Sinjah-san." Rei replied civilly to the girl. She had enough problems with other people in the house, she should at least be civil with the people that had minimal problem with her. "What are you doing?"

Ayane opened a single eye as she shot Rei a calculating gaze, before relenting and opening both as she adopted relaxed her posture. "I was thinking." she replied simply as she raised an eyebrow at Rei's presence. "Why are you here?" she asked as she ran a hand through her hair to straighten it out. Not that it needed any help, her hair was softer than silk, and seemed to constantly be in this perfected level of straightness. Although the process of doing that revealed the small chain she had been clutching, along with the flat silver ring the size of an American half dollar, with a tiny indentation hinting at there being more to the object that wasn't there.

Rei's lips thinned into a line at the girl. "I came here for a break." Rei commented noncommitally as she sat in the other free chair on the balcony, doing well to keep the hanging bedsheet off the side far from her mind.

Ayane looked thoughtful for a moment, before she stood up. "Alright, I'll leave then." she mumbled.

Rei adopted an almost alarmed look for a moment, "You don't have to do that, you were here first. I just came here to relax a bit, and get away from everyone else."

Ayane closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, "So did I." she replied.

Rei frowned at that revelation, "You don't have to leave though. I'm just looking for some silence." she quickly commented, hoping she wasn't the reason for the girl feeling like she was forced to leave.

Ayane clutched at the necklace in her hand, running her finger on the silver edge of the ring as she weighed her options. "Alright... if you'll be quiet." Ayane relented as she settled back into her still warm seat, before lifting up her legs and crossing them in the chair. A tight fit it appeared. However it seemed she was comfortable with it. She pulled her hood over her hair before she slung her arms into the other's sleeves, bowing her head quietly.

Honestly the actions confused Rei. At first she wanted to take a stab at the girl being cold. However she doubted that. It was nice out, and it was even warmer inside. She could only wonder what the girl was silently doing as her fingers shifted on the silver necklace inside her sleeves.

Rei took a deep breath allowing a smile to break onto her face as she looked out over the balcony. A lot of zombies that had been in the streets the following night had left to go elsewhere, with only a few staying behind. If she ignored what they brought to the scenery, and the giant wall of death? The sight before her was almost... peaceful.

Although this peace for her was interrupted by a knock on the window by none other than Takashi.

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Alright so that wraps up what? Chapter 13 I suppose. Truthfully? I was actually going to hold off a bit longer on posting this chapter. However when I decided to try and find some fan fiction to read, particularly in this category I found myself slamming my head on my desk. This is mostly due to my personal experiences, and as such my opinions on why harems don't work. And why this story likely won't go down that route.

That all being said? If you like harem stories, there is a new Highschool of the Dead story that recently was released. It looks to be like some full on rather ridiculous harem of like...

Narutox Sayax Shizukax Saekox Reix SuppressedTeacherx Yuukix Rika?xThose two girls running hand and hand at schoolx Alice's mom x Saya's mom...

Something like that. So if you are into that sort of thing... its like two chapters in. Check it out!

Meanwhile I will face desk.

X

So I will jump right into questions.

**"Bleed. Slow Story. What do?"**

When I started this story I knew I would be having to work on a lot of the characters a great deal in order to make them full characters. So like right now I'm about 15k words ahead of this chapter right here. All the "OC's" (Which were just characters not expanded on in the canon story). I needed to build completely.

Rei? I needed to flesh out her better qualities in order to make her likable, and not just a walking embodiment of jealousy.

Takashi needed to be built essentially from the ground up since he wasn't the center focus of the story, and the story no longer revolved around him (entirely).

Saeko... She is interesting. She is essentially a year older than the majority of the original cast. Rei is her age, but she has a year on Rei in education. So I decided to play a bit on that, and I think you will like where I take her in the later chapters.

But over all the story is moving slow not just due to additional characters. But there are other plots I just want to get out into the open. For example, you all still have no idea what the hell the significance of the shackle is. I intend for some information to be further given in regards to that in the coming chapters.

**"Semi-Small groups of characters is what authors do, otherwise the story feels like it isn't moving anywhere."**

This is true in some stories. However not in all. When I set out to write this, I wanted a larger cast for a few reasons. Number 1? A bit of my story telling for this story is going to be a mix of The Walking Dead, Mass Effect, and Lost. Uses of flashbacks to learn more about given character's pasts much like Lost. Naruto or Takashi will almost always be the center focus in the story, and you get to see how the other characters surrounding them grow through their eyes (much like Mass Effect 2). And finally both The Walking Dead, and Mass Effect 2 have huge casts. And in regards to The Walking Dead, these casts are constantly shifting as people leave the group, people get turned into zombies, or people disagree with each other.

With a simple 6 person group? You can't really do any of that without it having major major impacts on the story. The idea that everyone in this group is going to survive to the end of the story is just silly. I am putting it out there now to crush the hopes of anyone looking for that to happen. People will die. However the effects of a person dying in a 14 person casts of characters you know relatively intimately where they all bring their individuals skills to the table. Or a person dying in a 6 person cast? Well the effects are drastically different.

Killing a person in a 6 person cast is essentially killing off a 6th of a "surviving a zombie apocalypse" story. Killing off multiple members would essentially kill the story entirely. However if you are simply worried about the plot being "halted"? Things should be picking up rather quickly within the next chapter or so.

**"I thought Naruto was exhausted?"**

Naruto is quite tired at this point. However I didn't think it was really in his character to complain about how tired he was, even if it was in his thoughts. He is tired, however this isn't the first time he has been at this point of exhaustion.

**"Naruto Leaving the group for Jin? You betray his character Bleed!"**

I actually really wanted to touch on this, but honestly I still haven't even found the point to really do so adequately. The fact of the matter is that Naruto's first and foremost goal right now is him getting home. It has always been that thus far. The fact that he is with the group is mainly because he doesn't know where to start doing such a task. However he is keeping them safe. Yet the fact that they aren't listening to him and what not, what would that tell you in his shoes? That they don't want or appreciate his help?

He is stuck in this situation that is a delicate one because the group may very well die without him there. Yet at the same time, he is starting to think he would be better off on his own.

Again I haven't been able to really add in how he feels on the matter, even 15k words further into the story. I think that it is pretty easy to see where his frustration stems from if you really wanted to analyze the situation. However I just haven't pointed it out.

**"The Anbu rankings! I do not agree!"**

Rankings are rankings. They only apply stats. They don't apply how much effort a person put into those stats. Or how hard they tried to complete that course. When I made that, I imagined that it was really just something invented by the Nidaime Hokage as a bit of an aptitude test for ANBU that they had to past. And then his own amusement, he ran the course himself, and told people to try and beat his time.

I am sure that shinobi like Minato, or Hiruzen, or Danzo could have beaten those times. However while they could have been running that course? They were in reality out at war killing people.

Now some people that are obsessive and headstrong came back to the course (EX: Orochimaru, Kushina). While others were more so just perfectionists (EX: Itachi). The obstacle course is simply that, an obstacle course. It really means nothing when everything gets boiled down.

The idea would be you would just need to pass X course under Y time in order to continue your active duty in ANBU services. The top numbers after that were really just bragging rights.

However in specific regards to Kakashi beating Itachi? I call bullshit. Also in regards to Jounin being village elite, not ANBU. Again, I call bullshit. ANBU are essentially the closest thing to Special Operations the village has. There are strong jounin, that is without a doubt. However jounin eventually end up spending their time training the future generation. Jounin are essentially the public face of shinobi that you want the public to see. You don't want the public to see the killers that hide behind masks, and assassinate civilians out of countries, and burn down bridges and disrupt trade caravans when it suits their village.

**"Can I have a cookie?" - Im Not Itachi**

Sorry, I only share my cookies with Itachi.

**Anyways that looks like it wraps up all of the actual questions/statements asked and given in the reviews. Don't know how much longer I will be able to continue to respond to all of them. However I hope you enjoyed it.**

Read and Review. :)


	14. This is how Angels Die

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead.

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"Explain, now." Naruto said in a commanding tone as he roughly gripped Jin's arm. He didn't like getting played for a fool. He frankly doubted anyone did. He also didn't like being lied to. Both of those ideals had just slammed into him full force mere moments ago. Over all, the lie wasn't a big issue. Going from friend to family member meant no different. However the fact that Jin strung him along on a lie did not win him any points in his book. At least not anymore. Not in this world.

Jin froze at the top of the porch under the blonde's gaze and grip. "What's there to say? It's my mother... we are just going through some tough times at the moment." Jin said reluctantly.

Naruto's jaw tightened at that. Family issues, that was a concept he was far too familiar with. "So she's here then?" Naruto asked with a frown. They didn't have the time to get into a big argument on the porch. If there was going to be an issue between them, then it can be taken care of during their down time.

Jin nodded as he looked over the front door, as if he was scanning the entire house with x-ray vision. "Yeah. I went to school the other day, and she went to go teach at the Children's Elementary, alongside Komuro's mother. She likely got done with school, and drove back here. Her car is out in the drive way. So I doubt she went today, given everything that's happening." Jin said quickly, a good deal of worry bleeding into his voice.

Jin quickly reached into his pocket and grabbed a key that was attached to what appeared to be a small bar of flint on a chain. He slid the key in with practiced ease, and turned to open the door.

It didn't budge.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, whilst Jin's eyes narrowed. He pushed against the door more heavily, only for the same problem to present itself. He appeared completely ready to throw his entire large body against the door in an effort to break it down. However Naruto tugging on his arm shot down that idea.

"Come on." Naruto whispered as he looked over the house in a new found light.

"But my-"

"Shut up, follow me." Naruto cut in coldly as he hopped off the side of the porch and proceeded to make his way around the side of the house.

Jin reluctantly let go of the doorknob and followed Naruto around to the back of the house. However it was only upon turning the corner that Jin opened and closed his mouth a couple times to effectively find the words for the sight he saw.

Naruto had since scaled the side of the house through use of the storm drain, and an incredibly tiny indent in the wall where he placed his foot. He was hanging with his left arm from the storm drain right in front of a window. "Which room does this window lead to?" Naruto whispered just loud enough for Jin to hear him down below.

Jin wracked his mind for a second not used to using window entrances before replying, "Umm, the bathroom."

Naruto nodded slightly before reaching into his tool bag with his free hand. He drew a kunai with a frown as he looked over the window for a moment. He used his teeth to roll up the sleeve on his right arm, revealing the metal shackle as well. However he was more focused on the window.

The window window was no different than any window he had in his own house. No fancy glass. No unique pattern woven into it. Just glass. However there was a very fine netted screen right before the window.

Naruto wedged his kunai in the top right corner of the of the netted screen before violently pushing up on his kunai. The effect of the screen popping off was achieved easily, and rather quietly.

Naruto then closed his eyes before he channeled a very small and fine layer of wind chakra to the tip of his kunai. It didn't need to be anything fancy, or anything with combat potential like Asuma's wind chakra providing additional length to his blades. He just needed a sharp fine tip.

He then quickly cut along the the top side, followed by the left and then the right. It was quick and effortless. He slowed his roll as he came to the last cut holding the glass together. He carefully cut a small circle in the bottom right corner of the window.

The action was followed by the blonde spinning his kunai in his hand, and giving one light tap on the circle with the blunt end of the kunai. The tiny circle of glass fell out, inside the house falling onto the tile floor with a small clinking sound in the silence.

Naruto tightened his jaw as he finished the deed by making the final cut along the bottom of the window. He then quietly lifted the window from it's frame through use of the tiny hole he had cut into it. He looked behind him, ignoring the surprised face of Jin as he swung the glass window, tossing it and sticking it into the dirt ground beside the teen.

"Be quiet when you climb in." Naruto whispered quietly before he lifted himself into the bathroom in complete silence.

Jin followed the blonde with his eyes briefly before casting his gaze to the large square of glass stuck in the dirt not far from him. All he could do was frown as he slung his crossbow onto his back before grabbing the drain pipe. He had a bunch of questions running through his head at that point concerning the blonde. However he had so few answers. So he instead merely opted on focusing on what he could do, and what he did know. It was those thoughts stuck in his head as he scaled the pipe into the bathroom.

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"Rei come on wait! Please!" Takashi pleaded as he briskly tried to catch up to the fleeing brown haired girl. "Can you at least talk to me!"

Slap!

The vicious crack resounded through the back yard that abruptly ended the chase between the two teens. The crack was followed by a deep silence, the only sound in the wind that of a light hammering from the driveway below. Even the blades of grass beneath their feet stood still as the two teens entered a cold stare off.

"You have no right to fucking speak to me Takashi." Rei said in a scathing tone as she leaned in further, her fist at her side clenching in anger.

Takashi's jaw tightened at that all the while his eyes gained a look of sad recognition. "What, you are mad about Miku?" Takashi asked with a frown.

Rei fumed at the question as she straightened herself back up, "You're an idiot. You know that right?" she said bitterly crossing her arms over her ample chest while maintaining her glare.

Takashi rolled his eyes at the insult. "Whatever." he mumbled, not wanting to get into a game of name calling, particularly with a title Saya had called him far too many times in the past. "What is your problem?"

"My problem?" Rei repeated the words slowly before shaking her head and walking over to the railing of the elevated back yard that protected people from the drop into the driveway. "You haven't changed at all." she spat out in frustration.

"What change? Why would I change?" Takashi said bitterly as he took in her words. "It's not like I'm dating anyone _Rei_." he said pointedly, his emphasis calling on far too memories to count.

Rei turned and shot Takashi a dirty look, "Oh so that is why you choose to try and fuck the school slut? Because you aren't fucking dating anyone?" She asked in an emotional yell which quickly caused her to clench her jaw and try and bring herself down to Earth with her emotions.

Takashi barely restrained a growl at that, "Oh well _sorry_. Not everyone is fortunate enough to be in _a relationship_ Rei." Takashi drawled in a condescending tone. "Not like you and Hisashi." he added on at the end to make the point perfectly clear.

Rei's hands tightened on the rail with that fact thrown in her face. "Your right. I was with Hisashi." Rei said quietly before turning to look the brown haired teen in the eyes. "And I almost felt guilty about that for a long time." Rei grimaced to herself as the image on her school crush before her laying there with Miku.

"Thank you... for making my decision to not feel guilty... so much easier."

Takashi winced at the past stab at his heart being brought back up. "Yes because how things turned out between us was all my fault right?" he questioned remembering the vivid images of days he would spot Rei in the school halls and not be spared a second glance.

"It's not." Rei quickly replied as she spared Takashi an honest glance, before her eyes got a flicker of sadness in them. "But the way you act..." she began as she pursed her lips and averted her eyes. "You're making it that way."

Takashi tightened his jaw but said nothing as Rei provided her own opinion on the matter.

"I never knew." Rei began slowly, taking the silence as room for her to talk. "In middleschool I was oblivious. You know my dad. He was strict, and controlling. He wanted me to get straight A's, without exception. I thought nothing of hanging out with you and Jin, you were both my friends. Between shoplifting and technically... illegally working that barista job during the summer? I didn't really pay attention to boys. I wasn't like the other girls my age like Yuuki Miku, or the two girls Ichijou Misuzu and Niki Toshimi who were all into boys. I just didn't care."

Takashi remained silent, but he ended up slouching down further against the railing at the mention of the trio of their past. A time when things were simple.

"But I liked you." Rei admitted quietly. The idea of how easily the word '_liked'_ rolled off her tongue bothering her ever so slightly. "I liked you since we were kids Takashi."

Takashi couldn't even help himself from repeating the childhood scene that had been plaguing his memories ever since he started highschool.

"_Pinky promise... If you lie I'll make you swallow one thousand needles..."_

Rei tensed as the childhood memory flooded through her own brain.

_"I'm going to marry you, Takashi!"_

_"Really? Do you really mean it?"_

_"Yeah! Pinky promise!"_

"Don't start that." Rei said as she squeezed her eyes shut as if it would help block out the memory.

"Start what?" Takashi said quietly as he gazed down into the driveway. Miku and Kohta both appeared to have dragged a bunch of parts for the Hum Vee out onto some form of a stretcher, and were working on the car.

"You know what." Rei replied quickly, lips quickly forming into a frown. "We were kids Takashi. You can't cling to that promise. You _know_ why I ended up dating Hisashi."

Takashi sprung up straight at that comment at the statement itself, and how easily his childhood crush could read him. "Know why?" he nearly yelled. "No! I don't Rei! Tell me, because I certainly want to know!" this time he did yell. Quite loudly in fact. He was sure that people inside the house, as well as in the drive way heard him.

"Oh come on Takashi!" Rei matched the teen, quickly turning their formerly civil argument into a yelling match. "When high school started? I liked you! I liked you a lot! But whenever I asked you out? Whenever I wanted to spend time with you? You were too fucking busy with your damn friends on the roof to give me the time of day!" Rei yelled back as she physically pushed herself away from the rails, turning around to make her way back to the house.

Takashi grew a lump in his throat at Rei's admission. This was truthfully the first talk they were ever having on the subject. Never once did he actually think that his lack of action was the source of the change in their relationship.

"Give me your stupid thousand needles Takashi. I moved onto Hisashi because you didn't want to move on with me." Rei said in a low voice, her glare piercing through the brown haired boy before she briskly turned and marched back inside.

Takashi turned back to lean over the rail with a heavy sigh. He looked over the edge of the railing straight down with a tired gaze as the memories of days passed flashed through his mind. It was only when they finished running through his head that his gaze was left with him and the concrete floor below.

It was quite a long way down...

"I guess that didn't go so well Komuro-kun?" Saeko's voice called from the doorway, dragging the brown haired teen from his train of thought.

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"Damn." Jin muttered under his breath as he heaved himself into the bathroom, only to get a cold look from Naruto.

"What?" Jin muttered in confusion at the glare he gained.

Naruto shook his head, "You couldn't get in with a key. We probably aren't alone here. Keep quiet." the shinobi said near silently as he drew a trusted blade from his pouch, before slowly turning the door knob.

Jin tensed at that bit of information he had overlooked, and quickly armed his crossbow with a bolt before following after the blonde.

Naruto looked cautiously over his shoulder to check if the teen was following him. He could probably search the house himself rather easily. However with the teen behind him following him, he wasn't willing to do anything flashy.

However to his own surprise, Jin's actions served to calm the shinobi a great deal. It was a simple gesture, one that probably would mean next to nothing for anyone else. Yet the simple action of Jin gently tapping the blonde on the shoulder threw him back to a time where he was training for ANBU. A time where having a teammate at your back was common, and their presence was calming.

They didn't walk far. They only had to make a journey past a single closet before Jin's voice quietly broke the silence.

"That's my mom's!" Jin whispered in a panic as they stood before the staircase. At the very bottom of the staircase was a coat hanger at the front door, that had since been barricaded with a wooden desk. The small red coat hung there motionless in the silent house, despite there being something considerably off with their surroundings.

Although that fact didn't seem to bother Jin in the slightest as he rushed down the stairs, all the while his footfalls still retaining some surprising level of silence.

The teen had crossbow in grasp carefully turning to the right and left checking the rooms quickly to make sure he was safe at the foot of the stairs. It was only upon realizing that he was safe that he snatched his hand up to the red coat on the hanger, and grasped it tightly in his hand.

Naruto stood up straight, the tension his body formerly had ready to pounce at any prey gone. He personally didn't see the purpose of going down the stairs to grab the coat, particularly when the teen could identify it from the top of the stairs. Yet reluctantly, Naruto had to admit his experience in this situation was probably forever going to be absent. He had no family, and all of his friends carried swords and weren't to be messed with. The chances of this scenario ever happening to him was slim to none.

Perhaps there was a significance to the coat that was foreign to him? Perhaps the teen just wanted something of his mother. Perhaps simple reassurance that she was safe? The concept of sentimental items was one he long since discarded from his life. His sleeping cap, Iruka's headband, _even..._

Naruto reached up as the weight on his neck suddenly felt a great deal heavier than he remembered. A single crystal held up by a single string with a worth that was more than a mountain. '_Perhaps I didn't get rid of everything sentimental...'_ Naruto thought to himself sadly as before making sure he buried the necklace beneath his clothes once again.

Naruto sighed to himself, relenting his own internal warfare with how he should handle the situation. He would freely admit he was exhausted on his feet. However at the same time, this wasn't the first time he had been up for nearly a week straight. It just meant that the experience never got any better.

However perhaps maybe one of the reasons that he was getting so exhausted was because he was worrying _too_ much. Perhaps he hadn't transitioned into this world as seamlessly as he thought? Going from a world at war with lightning fast shinobi capable of birthing forests in a matter of seconds in contrast to the sluggishly slow beings that plagued the people of this current time? Perhaps he was being too hard on people, and as consequence too hard on himself?

Naruto quietly followed the teen down the staircase. He silently took the time to gaze at the pictures that lined the wall, a fact that was always quite the depressing site for him.

He had no love for his parents. One of them could have survived that day. Instead they both tried to take some twisted morale high road, and they both ended up getting themselves killed.

However the real kicker wasn't that they both got themselves killed. It was that they left him _nothing_. There was no difference between him and a random street urchin in his childhood days, or so he had thought at the time. However being the Kyuubi jinchuriki, and essentially royalty forced to live in a run down apartment in the proclaimed "New Red Light District" of town? That made him angry.

Yet his blood would boil at the thought of his god parents. Well _one_ of his god parents. It was almost funny really. Almost like the start of an old fable.

_'Three outcasts,'_ Naruto began in his head in amusement. '_A prince, a princess, and an idealist. Between them there is a rare bond that ties them together. Each outcast has reason to be angry with the other two. Who's wrong? Who's right? Which side do the common people reside?'_

Tsunade Senju, the princess of the Senju. Uzumaki Naruto, the prince, and last remaining heir of the Uzumaki. The Legendary Jiraiya, the idealist, with a spy network that had no limits. The rare bond that tied them together was the fact that the older two were the youngest's god parents.

Yet the youngest only had a loathing hatred for one of them.

The godfather.

Naruto pursed his lips weakly as he recalled upon the memories that lead to that loathing.

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**Flashback**

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"Uzumaki-san please wait! Hokage-sama is busy in a meeting!" the female assistant at the front desk yelled out as the orange clad blonde haired teen stormed past the reception desk to the red hallways leading to the Hokage's office.

"You seem to think I give a fuck." Naruto spat out as he quickly moved making large steps scaling past two stairs at a time in his march. The words of the documents he read seared into his mind.

_Uzumaki Kushina of Konohagakure no Sato_

_Birth Place: Uzushiogakure_

_Birth Date: July 10th_

_Age: 34 (Deceased)_

_Height: 5'4_

_Weight: 103.6lbs_

_Clan: Uzumaki_

_Notable information: _

_Former Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi_

_Heiress__**leader of(Edited upon Uzumaki Mito's death)**__ the Uzumaki Clan_

It had been nearly a week since Naruto had his encounter with Yugao in the training room. And since then he had heeded her advice, but this detail, this one detail was something he could never fully push from his mind. Naruto was seething in rage as he listed off each fact in his head. Every line of the document he found was seared into his memory. Each letter like a vibrant flame, like a rare flake of snow never to be forgotten.

Naruto rounded the bend of the circular halls of the Hokage tower, stopping before the doors for a mere moment as his hands clenched tightly. The sheer awkward feeling that overcame him. That feeling coupled with anguish, disgust, betrayal, and numerous other emotions he had long since stopped trying to identify.

As he stood before these doors he could only bring himself to think back to where a mere couple weeks before he had barged in to the room and had been happy to visit. As he had been happy to visit the elder Hokage ever time since his childhood. Yet here he stood frozen, as if he was about to meet the famed Hokage for the first time. The images of a grandfatherly supportive figure, a friend, and someone he could trust vanished from his thoughts. All that was left with the sad feeling of betrayal.

He had never had to experience such a situation. And he never thought he ever would. He wasn't close to many people. The handful of people he was close to, he never thought would betray him in such a way. Is this how people feel when their lover cheats on them with their best friend? The utter distrust and disgust you feel for the parties involved. The irreparable damage that wedges itself in between the now fragmented pieces of one's soul?

Naruto tightened every inch of his body, clenching his eyes and fists as he stood before the door and gathered his barrings. It was then with one final confident push that he outright kicked the doors open, causing them to slam against the inside walls.

"Old man!" Naruto yelled in confidence. A confidence that he was trying to maintain realizing he had seemingly interrupted a meeting between him and a scarred man with a cane.

Without missing a beat, the cane wielding man said, "I see Hiruzen. Your methods seem to produce promising shinobi as always." he drawled as he turned his single eyed gaze upon.

Naruto bristled at the comment, and on most occasions probably would have turned his attention to the old man he didn't know, but he knew his current problem was with the man behind the desk.

"Naruto... I'm in a meeting." the elder Hokage said with a light smile in a quiet but respectful tone. A large contrast to the blonde who acted like he was about to report a maelstrom sweeping through Konoha.

"No! We need to talk!" Naruto all but yelled adamantly at the aging Hokage.

The scarred man with a cane turned to the Hokage whom sat behind his desk with an appraising but condescending gaze, as if judging how he would handle his current situation.

Hiruzen shot the battered man a cold look that went unnoticed by the blonde, as all the dangers the look foretold slipped past him. "Naruto perhaps we can talk tomorrow. I'm afraid that I am going to be busy discussing some matters with Danzo today."

Naruto huffed up at that like a dragon about to exhale smoke from it's nose. "Really? Tomorrow." Naruto repeated the words in his head and mouth as if mulling the concept over. At least that was until the crushing weight of the idea of getting to the bottom of the mystery that was his parents was laid out before him once again. "How 'bout instead... you tell me about Uzumaki Kushina! And how I'm not some fucking orphan!"

The old Sarutobi's eyes snapped up as the formerly calm and carefree attitude he had about the impending conversation turned into one that was gravely serious. "Leave us." Hiruzen said in a commanding tone as he cast a glance at Danzo.

The old war veteran scoffed as he looked from the Hokage to the Jinchuriki and back again before making his way to the exit with the hobble of his cane. "Dogs without leashes run wild Hiruzen." Danzo stated in a condescending tone as he made his way out the doorway, leaving a thoroughly disgruntled Hokage behind.

The Professor gave a heavy sigh as he motioned for the blonde teen to take a seat in the chair before the desk. "Who told you that name Naruto?" the wise old man asked, moving straight to business, more than ready to punish anyone responsible for the leak.

Naruto snorted in anger as he crossed his arms over his chest, "I found it on a little note in the sewer, surrounded by all the other bullshit you've lied to me about over the years."

"Naruto..." the Hokage began sternly with a tone adopted for when scolding a child.

The young boy bristled at the tone he recognized all too well from his time pulling pranks. "What does it even matter? Why can't you just tell me the truth?" Naruto asked loudly, sitting up straight in his chair. "I asked you about my parents before! And you told me you didn't know. You told me I was an orphan and that I had no family!" Naruto yelled passionately, despite his anger he was fighting down the oncoming tears.

Hiruzen abopted a somber gaze as he rested his hands gently on the desk before him. "The best lies are always those with some truth to them." Hiruzen began, only to witness Naruto adopt a vicious scowl on his face. Obviously not the best way to start of his statement. "But Naruto... Sometimes in our profession... you have to lie to the people you love in order to protect them. The truth hurts, Naruto..."

Without missing a beat, Naruto had his arms crossed over his chest as he said, "So does betrayal."

Hiruzen's expression turned to one of sadness as he recalled upon a young pale faced black haired boy that later became his student. "Yes... betrayal hurts too. But so-"

"If you think you trying to take some morale highroad with me after lying to me for my entire life is going to change a thing? You're damn wrong." Naruto cut in growing tired of the Sandaime's explanations.

The old Sarutobi sighed heavily at that, "Alright Naruto. If you tell me honestly how you came across this information? I will give you the information you want."

Naruto tightened his jaw, but his retort died on his lips at the reasonable request. "At the underground ANBU headquarters. I saw her name on the obstacle course's top five. I went to the archives after that and found her ANBU record which had _a lot_ of information." Naruto said, putting heavy emphasis on just how much information he found out regarding the woman somehow related to him.

"ANBU?" the Hokage questioned with a raised eyebrow, "Why were you there Naruto?"

Naruto pursed his lips at the question with his arms still crossed over his chest. He wasn't too keen on how the conversation continually strayed from the mystery that was Uzumaki Kushina. "I applied to join ANBU. I'm going through the training right now before I get put on a team. _And I will get put on a team_." Naruto said coldly, as the thoughts of the betrayal the Sandaime had done to him throughout his life came to the forefront of his mind full force.

The Sandaime adopted a far away calculating look as he apparently mulled over that fact in his mind.

"Well?" Naruto asked stubbornly, not likng how the older man suddenly fell silent after he upheld his end of the bargain.

Hiruzen shook his head with his eyes closed, "Naruto, go see Jiraiya. When I felt it was time, he requested he be the one to tell you about your parents." he replied absent mindedly.

A deathly cold chill washed over Naruto as that information floated into his ears, "Wait..." Naruto began as he repeated what was just said in his head almost not believing it. "You're telling me Ero-senin knew? Who the hell else knew about my parents!" Naruto yelled in frustration, his hands clenching at the wooden armrests of the chair before him.

Sarutobi however was in the process of standing, and sweeping on his Hokage cloak, and grabbing his pipe. His attention to Naruto had suddenly died it seemed. "Kakashi, he was ordered not to speak of the matter." he replied quickly as he pulled the hat over his head to cast a shadow over his features. "Now Naruto I must take leave to go see some individuals for a meeting. You will be able to find Jiraiya-kun quite fine I imagine."

Naruto had stood up the moment the older man had said that, a fierce fire beginning to grow in his eyes. He gripped the rim of the desk so tightly that the wood threatened to splinter under his strength.

'_They all knew. The old man... Kakashi-sensei... even Ero-senin. They all knew yet they didn't want to tell me...'_

The aged Hokage swept past Naruto quickly at a brisk pace to the door which only allowed Naruto to give out one last anger infused shout.

"Glad to know that not a single person I looked up to could be honest with me!" Naruto yelled down to the desk he leaned upon, not given the old Hokage the satisfaction of seeing the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes.

The God of Shinobi paused in the doorway from the boy's cries before looking down, and proceeded out of his office.

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"Naruto... Naruto... Naruto!" Jin's voice repeated as Naruto had zoned out. "Hey man are you alright? Are you feeling sick or something? I don't want you passing out or throwing up or anything like that again..." Jin said with a bit of concern in his voice waving a hand in front of the blonde's face.

Naruto scowled as the memory of the image of the blonde individual flooded to the forefront of his mind once again, that and all of the unpleasant physical aspects the individual brought with them. "I'm fine." Naruto replied quickly, slapping away the intrusive hand. "Just thinking."

Jin took the statement at face value, his own goals outweighing his curiosity. "Well this is my mother's." Jin said quietly as he held his crossbow at his side, and had a red coat draped over his elbow. "She doesn't go anywhere without it. Her car keys are even in the pocket." he said as he shifted the jacket to give the keys a ring for emphasis. "My dad was a bit of a survival guy, so I'm positive my mom just put up this barricade. She is probably somewhere in the house, likely in the small cellar below."

Naruto brought himself back to reality and left the past behind him as he took the information into account, allowing his own past to lie as he thought up a plan. Something which didn't take long for the shinobi general.

"Alright, we are still going to quickly search the house from top to bottom. I don't want any surprises sneaking up on us, and I don't want us searching aimlessly." Naruto said as he motioned his head for the teen to follow him up the stairs. Yet he would be lying if he said the journey was an easy one. It was obvious that Jin's family seemed to be very family oriented. Every step he took felt like a memory in itself as he walked up the stairs, glancing at the pictures that lined the walls.

It reminded him vividly of Sakura's house, or someone from the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Families that covered the walls of their homes in memories. From Barbecues thrown by Chouji's family, small dinner get togethers thrown by Shikamaru's mother, photos of childhood playdates between the two young kunoichi. The feeling of getting to know a family by simply stepping in their door way. A feeling that Naruto knew he would never actually have himself.

"Tell me..." Naruto said tensely as he forced himself to look away from the photos on the wall. "Tell me about your family... why did you try and hide the fact that who we were searching for was your mom?"

Jin tensed as he heard Naruto ask that question, before visibly relaxing and lowered his crossbow a bit as the searched the house at a rather leisurely pace. "I guess you deserve to know at this point don'tcha." Jin said as he pursed his lips. He took the moment to give Naruto a glance, particularly taking note of his features.

"Are you American?" Jin asked as he examined the shinobi's features.

Naruto snorted at that thought having gleaned a bit of information on the long walk the group had. He could safely say he was not American. He could safely say he was not anything around here. "No, I'm not."

Jin's eyebrow hiked a bit further at that, "Really? German or something then right? You have to be European." Jin analyzed simply.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders not too keen on getting into the subject, "What's the point of this?"

Jin looked from Naruto before motioning with his head to the wall beside them in the upstairs hallway, "Here." Jin said calmly as he turned and faced a picture on the wall.

The picture was an old photo, that much was certain. It showcased a young boy who looked no more than eight years old, sitting on the front porch of the very house they were in. He had a head of blonde hair that stood out quite a bit. Particularly so when compared with the others in the picture.

The woman in the picture was young and beautiful. She had long black hair that flowed down her back coupled with fair skin that was completely absent wrinkles. Naruto would have been hard pressed to say the woman was anywhere a day past twenty. She stood directly behind the young boy, leaning back into a pair of big strong arms wrapped around her, a brilliant and playful smile upon her face.

The strong arms wrapped protectively around the young woman belonged to quite the size of a man. He was easily on the taller side of men Naruto had ever seen. He probably stood at the size of 6'4, with an equally strong build to match, as if he was a man that performed manual instruction or was some form of fighter. However his imposing form was offset by his light brown hair, and cheerful expression as he was giving the woman in his arms a kiss on the cheek.

Naruto couldn't hold back a smile at the picture. It was almost disturbingly sappy. However for a person that didn't have a family, it was pictures and moments like these that he felt others truly took for granted. Well, at least he knew by how the walls were lined in this house, Jin's family certainly didn't take it for granted.

"My actual name is _Jake_, or should I say _Jacob_. Full name Jake Jin Homura." The tall teen began as he looked upon the picture hanging from the wall with a focused gaze.

Naruto perked up slightly at that bit of information. Ever since the teen had offhandedly given him a name to call him when he got off that bus that day, he knew that there was something off about it. _'I suppose now I know why._' Naruto thought to himself in a bit of amusement despite the serious tone Jin was taking with the subject.

"My father was American. A little fact that the kids at school never really got past at school. I mean I can't say that I can really blame them. I went by Jake for all of Elementary school, and only switched to Jin upon going to middle school. The fact that I turned into a bit of a giant among my classmen didn't help much either." Jin said before taking a pause as if reflecting back to the time. "I was the kid that got picked on in my early years for it, pretty much just 'cause I was there." he said quietly as he lifted his head up at the memory.

Naruto's gaze however fell from the picture at that note. What Jin had just said was not a concept foreign to him in the slightest. He in fact knew the feeling of being picked on in school very well.

"I know it isn't tradition for Japanese kids to have middle names, so you don't need to tell me that much. It's just that apparently my mom when she was in college decided to take a semester in America. It was there that she actually met my dad. And well..." Jin couldn't contain a snort and a bit of laughter as he told the tale, "I guess he got her pregnant or something while she was out there. Thankfully though he told me that they were very much in love even if it had only been a short time. If it had been some other way, that likely would have destroyed my childhood." he stated with a laugh.

Naruto smiled lightly as he listened to the story. It was actually rather relaxing to just listen to the teen talk. A luxury that had been stripped from his as the war moved further and further on. Even his time spent in this new world, the only bit of talking he had really done was with Rei under less than desirable circumstances, and his brief encounter with Saeko that was far too close to his secrets for his own taste.

"My mom came from a family of two younger sisters. And in Japan, family and carrying on the name means a lot. So my grandparents, while they love my mom and her sister's already weren't that happy at having so many daughters. So when they heard that my mom went off and got pregnant with a guy they had never even met or heard of... well they were...-"

"Pissed?" Naruto provided in amusement, getting a bit involved in the tale that was so foreign to him.

"Pretty much." Jin confirmed with a smirk. "They were quick to send out two tickets to both my dad and my mom, only one of them was a return flight. Apparently they 'wanted to get to the bottom' of the whole situation. Frankly I think they wanted my mom to get rid of me. She never told me that though, I think she wanted me to think a bit better of my grandparents. However that doesn't matter that much." Jin admitted.

"My mom and dad got out here and had this big meeting, introductions, and everything. And my dad told me that it frankly couldn't have gone worse. He says my mom was a bit of a hothead back then, and a free spirit. So when they landed out here, instead of going straight to the family house? She took my dad out to eat at not one! But two of her favorite restaurants!" Jin applied with a laugh, obviously recalling more personal memories of the tale than Naruto was recalling. Although the blonde shinobi was smiling in amusement all the while.

"My dad told me that when they ended up getting to the house, hours late. They proceeded to call him a bad influence on my mom and all sorts of names, like an outsider. Oh I wish I was actually there, it sounds like it was hilarious really." Jin said with a smile before he adopted a more proud look. "However dinner rolled around and naturally the idea of carrying on the family name came up pretty quickly. I personally don't see why it was such a huge issue. My mom and dad didn't raise me like that. Although I guess my dad instantly went from some hated outsider to the top of the A-list with them when he said that I could carry their family name, and I would just adopt his first name or something like that." Jin scoffed with a roll of the eyes.

"They have right spoiled the shit out of me since then, not kidding. Particularly when my dad essentially brought christmas into the family which is really just a big excuse to throw gifts and money at family members." he finished with a grin.

It was then that Jin shook his head, "Sorry, I must be boring the shit out of you. Come on lets go." he said quietly as he hoisted his crossbow up to rest on his shoulder.

Naruto smiled and honest smile. He was actually quite enjoying the story. "Not at all." He admitted as he gently pat the tall teen on the shoulder. "But how 'bout you tell me while we continue looking for your mom."

Jin stood up straight at that and nodded his head, reaffirming the reason why they were there in the first place. "Yeah, lets finish up here. I'm sure she is going to be in the downstairs cellar. That is where dad told us to go if things went south. Well... that or the garage."

"Well anyways, my dad came from a family of four other brothers. So me carrying on the name of my mom's side of the family wasn't that hard of a choice to make. So he had me adopt his first name as my own. Personally I preferred his middle name, I think 'Archer' is rather badass. It fit my dad a lot better than me though."

Naruto snorted at that as he looked over his shoulder having just gotten done searching a closet. He gave a pointed look to the teen with the crossbow resting in his grasp, "Well I don't know about that."

Jin smiled on that note, "Well anyways yeah my dad ended up giving up a lot to move out here to be closer to my mom and her parents. Given the fact that he didn't know the language that well, a lot of the experience he went through in college wasn't that useful. He had a bit of trouble getting a job. And since my mom is a teacher... well." he spread his arms out to motion to the walls of the house. "I guess it pays so well to be a teacher that you virtually end up in the closest thing to a ghetto that this city has." Jin finished with a bitter attitude.

"Well how did you learn to use your crossbow? That isn't your conventional use of weapon I imagine." Naruto said calmly, trying to get the one question that had been bugging him since arriving in this new world. Where the hell did they keep their weapons? Where he came from you had multiple stores in a city for them. There were weapons in Rika's house. So they had to get them from somewhere. Yet he had done a lot of traveling thus far, and hadn't spotted anything.

"My dad actually." Jin replied calmly before waiting for Naruto to catch up to him in the hallway before they proceeded down the stairs. "His grandfather hunted, whom taught his father. And his father passed it on to him, and well naturally, he passed it on to me. He actually knew how to build them, and would make them for me to practice with. Always told me that we would end up going hunting one day. And it was only then that I'd get a real crossbow or bow of my choosing. Well... that and the fact that he said I was _'growing like a fucking weed'_ and it would be impractical for him to go through the process of having to buy the piece in parts to assemble it here with how I was growing."

Naruto nodded at that. That just made sense. It would be the same as buying a blade you expect a child to use for the rest of his life. It would either be too heavy and long when he was young, or too short and lacking weight when he was bigger and older.

"Come on this way." Naruto said calmly as he proceeded into the room to the right of the stairs.

Jin did a double take as he looked back to Naruto. He had already been clean on his way to the left leading into the kitchen. "Hey man, my mom is like I said going to be in the cellar. It's just this way past the kitchen."

Naruto rolled his eyes at that, "Then there is no need to rush. Where as there is a need to make sure nothing sneaks up on us from behind." Naruto drawled as he looked through what appeared to be the living room of the house.

Jin nodded tensely at that. Considering how far the blonde had come with him, there wasn't much point in trying to argue with the teen over a couple extra minutes, particularly when he was just being careful.

It only took a couple moments to search the relatively open room for any potential surprises. "So while I have enjoyed the story you have told me. This doesn't really tell me that much. It still doesn't answer why you decided to hide the fact that we were trying to help your mom?" Naruto said as he relaxed his blade hand once again upon finishing inspection of the room.

Jin developed a frown at the thought. "True." he said reluctantly. "There is a reason for that." Jin continued as he clutched tightly at his crossbow.

"Me and my dad, we took a trip to America for a semester and a summer. California actually. The weather is as good as everyone says it is. Seventy degrees of sunshine, year round. I didn't get to see my dad's side of the family much, so he thought I should have the experience. Naturally my mom being a teacher, she couldn't go for such a long time. However my dad was able to snag his old job. Apparently he was a hell of a barback, and a bartender when he was in college. Although he admitted to being a bit of a showboating asshole."

Jin shrugged his shoulders as he told his story, while the moved into the kitchen. "It was fun, I learned a lot. The sort of entertainment they had out there, and how many people actually drove around everywhere was a bit crazy to me. My dad ended up bullying me into getting my license out there the moment I turned sixteen...-"

Naruto perked up a bit at that knowledge. "So you are capable of driving around those vehicles outside?"

Jin gained a strained look as if the weight of those words were actually crushing him. "Yeah I guess but i-"

"Good. We can use your mother's vehicle to travel back to the group. We have already been out here for quite a deal longer than I would have liked." Naruto said as he glanced around the kitchen.

Jin pursed his lips, but said nothing other than, "The cellar is right here. When we get my mom, she can drive us out of here and back to the group."

Naruto merely nodded in response and motioned for the teen to open the door on the ground.

He pulled it open with one swing calling out, "Hey mom!" as the lights downstairs automatically began to flicker on.

Naruto was expecting numerous scenarios and was mentally preparing himself for anything to be down in the cellar. While he silently hoped it was Jin's mother, he knew that there was always going to be a chance that they would find the cellar empty. Or worse, find the woman dead. However the sight of a group of teenagers, and more importantly a single teenage girl holding a makeshift spear pointed at what was formerly the cellar door, and now Jin. That was not something he was immediately expecting.

"Fuck you." the girl said calmly, before she lunged her spear forward at the tall crossbow wielding teen.

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Alright well it has been awhile but I finally decided to release a chapter. Truthfully I have been sitting on about 20k words or something like that for the past couple months. However I decided not to upload because I was in the process of looking for a job, and trying to get work. The fact that I was writing during that time just made getting a job a bit too tough. However now that I have a job, and things are going a bit smoother? I don't feel bad about finally releasing this chapter.

Originally my plan was to go ahead and release two 20k word chapters or something like that because I felt at times the story was going slow, as did other people reading the story. So that frankly wasn't fun. However with my long break, that really just isn't an option anymore as I'd need to get back into the swing of writing the characters in this story. So over the course of the next few chapters you are going to see things build up to become bigger and bigger and bigger until the climax of this arc truly comes to a close. Things you will see during the remainder of this arc will be...

Pretty much the close on the expansion of Jin's character(For a good long time, until like the 4th arc).

The mysterious shackle

The reveal of this mystery character that is plaguing Naruto mind.

Takashi finally coming into his own as a character and protagonist that can legitimately hold his own as a standalone character opposed by the other leading characters in the story.

The start and initial sights of the expansion on Saeko as a fully fleshed out character.

The conclusion of the Rika's apartment arc, and the introduction to the across the river arc(Saya's house, the mall, police station, etc).

And perhaps the first truly tense action scenes in the story(I'm not confirming this as the above I have already written, these parts I have not yet written.)

XX

Anyways I am telling you this as to just give you a feel for what is to come and the direction the story is taking. There are a lot of Highschool of the Dead stories out there, and as I sat down and started writing mine, I just really realized that mine isn't going to be just sex and action. It won't be like the original Highschool of the Dead. It will be dark, and it will have conflict, there will be character deaths. Perhaps there will be sex, perhaps there will be intense action. However the true goal and direction with this story is going to be how the characters are surviving and forced to adapt and overcome their challenges.

I am telling you this because if you were one of the readers hoping for some great action sequences that threaten life and death, or showcase Naruto obliterating hordes upon hordes of zombies with a finger flick?

You're probably gonna have a bad time.

XX

So to answer some questions?

**Hangman1**

No, sorry I ate all the cookies on my multi-month hiatus.

**By Far The Coldest**

Hue hue hue hue hue, I heard Tina came out of the closet.

**pokemaster12**

I do in fact know Naruto will eventually get a pairing. I just don't know with who yet. However I do know it will happen.

**BlackRevenant**

I agree, there are indeed quite a lot of subplots in the story right now. Hopefully over the course of the next couple chapters though it will tone that down to 3 or 4 running plots, which frankly isn't a lot for a zombie apocalypse story.

As for why I chose Rei for him to bond with instead of Takashi or Kohta? Both Takashi and Kohta are relatively decent guys in the canon series, and while their potential wasn't really used? It wasn't like anyone particularly hated them because they were bad characters. Rei however was a rather flat character that was essentially written out to have a lot of depth, but was showcased as a walking jealousy bomb. I killed a field of birds with a single stone picking Rei as the one Naruto bonded with. (Makes Rei a better character, allows for scenes that give insight into Naruto's past with ANBU, Allowed for me to expand on the actually issues with Rei and Takashi, while at the same time giving Rei a strong figure to compare Takashi to.)

**MathiasMatt**

Nope, I haz eaten the cookies.

**Tacobeard**

Thank you! And does your beard taste like tacos?

**EBM6969**

There are only a handful of stories in this category, and most of them aren't being updated. It frankly is a rather easy story to find. Although... I personally didn't bother to remember the name because well... I usually hate harems. So there you have that haha...

**Anonymous**

Just because Jin is OC doesn't mean it is the soul reason Naruto followed him. He told the group to stay put, and then Jin ran off with a weapon. As a military leader, Naruto has naturally had to deal with deserters, and he also knows that resources are everything. He followed Jin for initially very military-like and cold reasons. Yet his curiosity ended up getting the best of him

As for the arc, A big portion of why the arc with Jin happened is it allowed me to expand on Jin. However perhaps more importantly? Takashi was always taking a back seat with Naruto around. With Naruto gone, you get to really see Takashi grow into that character that ended up convincing all of the girls that surrounded him to pine after him.

**Juopunumies**

Pretty much the above. I mean is Jin my baby? Nah not really. However Jin was one character I instantly knew how I wanted to take him with the story. Well him and Saeko, I knew right away. It just wasn't Saeko's time yet.

And as for why Jin and Naruto are getting such a heavy focus? There is a bit of a time difference that I haven't been touching on that much in the actual story. However I have stated it is there. Naruto and Jin are both essentially moving 5-7 hours before the group is even making their moves. So the amount of things you see Jin and Naruto pulling off? You are seeing them more because they are essentially having more time they have to showcase.

Both groups are eventually going to meet up once again at the same time, but you will have seen/experienced more time with Jin and Naruto. Is this a bad or good thing? I don't know. I don't really care either. Fleshing out characters is fleshing out characters. Every character showcased already has a specific time they will be getting fleshed out with the exception of like 3 characters.

**I will PM the remaining people, this is getting far longer than I anticipated. Anyways read and review everyone, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	15. The Man You Were Always Meant To Be

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool of the Dead.

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"Damn..." Tajima muttered to himself as he looked down carefully at a message being carefully displayed on his cellphone, despite his current job of piloting the helicopter he was in.

Rika raised an eyebrow at her partner. The two had been on their journey pretty much in complete silence since they had left. There wasn't much small talk one could make about abandoning their post. It left an heavy feeling in the pit of their stomachs, surrounded by an air of shame. "What is it?" Rika asked, not wanting to be overly nosy and read over the man's shoulder in case the message was more personal.

"It's actually the Chief." Tajima said quietly as he carefully went about piloting the helicopter over the city. It was typically an easy task. However the task became much harder the more they saw people running away from those _things_, and the fact that they were ignoring them in favor of a personal quest. Admittedly if he had the opportunity to go back and change his current actions, the man didn't think he would. However that didn't reassure him or make the situation any easier.

"What did he say?" Rika asked quietly, trying to ignore her betrayal to the best of her ability while still appeasing her curiosity.

Tajima snorted as he glanced down for a moment before sparing his dark skinned partner a glance. "Don't worry about it." he said as he buckled his knees causing his phone to fall to the floor, and out of sight. "Life sometimes just gives you lemons."

Rika sent her partner a questioning gaze trying to sift out the hidden meaning behind his words.

"Rika you should go get a chute on. This thing doesn't have enough fuel for me to actually stop. So when we fly over our destination, you are going to need drop right away, 'cause I'm just going to fly past it." Tajima said without looking his teammate in the eye as he steered on ahead.

Rika pursed her lips for a moment before nodding her head. "Alright, be back in a sec'." she said calmly as she moved further back in the helicopter.

It was then that Tajima took the time to glance down at the watch on his wrist, and carefully set a timer for exactly an hour. "When life gives your lemons..." he told himself in amusement before he took one long gaze back toward his purple haired teammate strapping on her parachute with a light smile.

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"Fuck you."

"What the Ffff!"

Naruto's reaction was far swifter than both the attacking teenage girl, and the surprised male teen.

Naruto swept in front of Jin with an extended hand, elbowing Jin out of the way and deflecting the poorly crafted spear into the wall beside them. It was only then that Naruto took the plastic pipe that formed the spear, and gave it a vicious tug against the surprised girl, throwing her off balance, nearly stumbling forward on the stairs she was on as the pipe was ripped from her grasp.

Jin was quick to recover from his surprise as he lifted his crossbow. "You bitch!" he yelled in anger as he in an instant had the crossbow in his grasp resting on Naruto's shoulder.

"No!" Naruto commanded as he pushed the aimed crossbow up away from the fallen girl. However it was too late to escape an attack. The trigger had already been pulled.

The bolt sailed past the girl, cutting above her shoulder violently. It sailed through the air and quickly impacted into the shoulder of a tall lanky teen male behind her on the stairs.

"Oh son of a..." Jin began cursing to himself as he quickly notched another bolt in anger at his initial miss.

"Jin!" Naruto yelled coldly as he gave the tall teen a dark look, gripping the hand on his crossbow forcibly down.

"She just tried to kill me!" the angered teen quickly retorted, as he tried to brush past the blonde and kick the fallen girl down the stairs to her partner than was now crying out in pain.

Naruto pushed the teenage resident back against the wall with a yell, "Fucking calm yourself!" he proclaimed loudly, unable to stop an evident amount of killing intent bleeding into his words.

Jin stilled at that, and stopped going for an attack in a blind rage. But it was evident by his heavy breathing, and the look he was shooting the fallen girl that there was still a great deal of bitterness and anger in him.

"Look at them. They are scared fucking kids. Weren't you looking for you mom?" It was true. The group was admittedly a lot more diverse in age than their own group back at the apartment. The girl that had been wielding a spear was probably seventeen or eighteen. However there was definitely at least one kid from early middle school in their group.

Jin grit his teeth in anger, but Naruto's words served to remind him of his original goal for being at his house at all in the first place. He roughly shoved off Naruto's hand that was pinning him to the wall before hoisting his crossbow, and rushing down the stairs. Although his haste didn't prevent him from giving a knee to the fallen girl's shoulder as he passed. That or the dirty sneer he sent to the teenage boy who had crumpled with his back to the wall as a couple of his comrades came to his aid.

Naruto looked down with a heavy sigh. _'Heavy is the head that bares the crown...'_ Naruto remembered Konan's words quite vividly resounding to his mind. A saying that had been stuck in his head ever since he adopted such a prominent position in the shinobi world.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked the fallen girl whom was slowly lifting herself off the staircase.

"I-I nearly killed him..." she said quietly in shock as he hands started shaking, gripping tightly at her worn out cargo pants.

Naruto nodded his head lightly as he stepped down and gently put a hand on the girl's bare shoulder. She was in a bit of shock, not that he could particularly blame her. "Just breathe, everything's fine." Naruto said calmly, trying to reassure the girl even though he didn't particularly believe his own words.

Naruto took that time to look over the small group they stumbled upon.

The girl beside him seemed to be the de facto leader of the group. She stood perhaps around a handful of inches below Naruto at 5'6. She had hair as black as night with crestfallen emerald eyes. Her body was nicely toned and fit, with curves that further enhanced her attractive form, likely a swimmer or a runner. It was clear that exhaustion weighed down upon her form as she sat on her knees with her shaky arms extended down before her. Her look was completed with a tight black tank top and loose dark green cargo pants that had a bulging pocket.

The tall lanky boy with the crossbow bolt protruding from his shoulder had his eyes squinted shut in pain behind his glasses. He had unruly black hair that was impossible to be tamed. He was probably no more than fifteen years old, standing an inch or two shorter than Naruto at a height of 5'9. The boy didn't look like he did any form of physical exercise outside of what was required for him at his school, mainly relying on his probably high metabolism to stay skinny.

Hovering over the boy were two girls. One of them likely of equal age with him. She had dark brown hair and a focused expression on her face. She wasted no time in ripping the bottom half of her shirt, perfectly content with showing off her midriff in order to assist her comrade. She had long delicate and slender hands, perfect hands for a doctor or a musician. Her focus had left the shinobi on the stairs, and the angry teen that ventured off into the cellar the moment the crossbow bolt had struck true.

There was also a young boy in the group. He couldn't have been anything more than twelve years old. His dark hair cast shadows over his hazel eyes that seemed to piece through the dark. On different occasions, perhaps his stare would have been a bit unnerving. However that idea died upon seeing the pure look of worry and desire to assist on the boy's face.

The last person in the group was tall... a _tall_ woman. Probably a couple inches taller than Jin at 6'2 or 6'3. She appeared to be probably around twenty-four years old. She had a vibrant blonde hair to couple with her blue eyes and quite the impressive bust that reminded Naruto quite clearly of another older blonde women he knew. In contrast to the women he had seen, both zombie and human. It was evident that the woman was at least quite a bit exotic at least in this part of the world. Particularly with her chiseled features, and piercing gaze. However despite how exotic she looked, what stood out most about her was the fact that it appeared she had looted an expensive clothing story as she was wearing a very fancy kimono with heels to match. The defensive posture she held also told stories of a woman that knew a bit about how to defend herself, at least more so than anyone else in her group.

Naruto looked back down to the girl at his side, and crouched beside her. His '_bedside talk_' was quite excellent when he was younger. However a lot of the tact it used to have died as the war dragged on, and bedside lies and hope quickly proved to not be his style. "Hey, I know you're pretty shaken up. Me and my friend are looking for a black haired woman, probably in her mid to late thirties. Is she wi-"

It was then that Jin came storming back around the corner of the cellar calling out, "Damnit! Where the hell is my mother! I know she is here. Where the hell do you guys have her!" it was evident the stress bleeding onto the teen's features was causing him to see red as he stormed back up to the group, crossbow drawn.

"Jin control yourself!" Naruto barked at the teen, causing the girl resting on the stairs between them to flinch.

"W-what?" Jin sputtered in surprise at he continued to point his crossbow at the tall blonde woman, but was looking at Naruto in shock. "You serious?"

Naruto ignored the emotional teen as he gently shook the green eyed girl beside him. "Hey, do you know anything about my... partner's mother?" Naruto had to take a pause as he nearly let the term _friend_ slip off his tongue, a habit that he had never gotten rid of since his childhood, getting attached too quickly.

The girl rapidly shook her head back and forth as she looked down, her shoulders visibly tense.

Naruto looked up to Jin from his place on the stairs with a frown.

Jin's grip tightened on his crossbow as his expression heated up at the girl's answer. "Man that's bullshit! I found my mom's coat upstairs! She doesn't go anywhere without it!"

"Jin!" Naruto tried to remind the teen, to no avail.

"How are you going to side with them? This bitch just tried to kill me! Surely will try and kill you the moment your back is turned! Why the hell do you trust her word?" Jin barked back in anger, hoisting his crossbow higher.

Naruto scowled, "Does this look like the form of a person who actually wanted to kill you?" Naruto asked gesturing to the shaking girl in front of him.

Jin clenched his jaw at that note and began lowering his weapon once again due to the constant mental conflict going through his head.

"Good to know you can at least keep the idiot from firing his weapon off a second time and injuring someone." The tall blonde haired woman said in a condescending tone.

Naruto shot the woman a look before shaking his head, "You are really in no position to be making such statements." Naruto said quietly. There was nothing more frustrating than first encounter scenarios that go south, and then when a cease fire is arranged, people in both groups feel some ridiculous sense of entitlement.

The blue eyed woman looked over Naruto with a piercing stare before shrugging her shoulders, seemingly not that interested in the blonde shinobi.

It was then that the girl with hair as black as night quietly said through shaky breaths, "I don't know where your mom is... but we are part of a bigger group."

"Miyuki!" The blonde woman hissed angrily as her eyes narrowed. "These two are dangerous!" she bit out harshly, still holding a relatively defensive stance against the two teens.

Naruto knew that snorting at the thought of him being dangerous definitely wouldn't win any points for him here, so he fought it down quite painfully. Even if it was an understatement of the century.

The now dubbed Miyuki didn't even bother to turn around, she continued to talk down to her hands in her lap. "It's his _mother_!" the teenage girl said loudly in exasperation, a tone that seemed to shut the blonde woman up quite soundly.

"A couple days ago a local gang started forcing people to hold up in one of the big business buildings not far from here as the place even had a cafeteria and a shower room. It also had multiple floors which made it ideal to defend. They took everyone in a few block radius there, as well as any struggling individuals that hadn't been bitten by those _things_. Some went on their own free will, others not so much. Some were forced to join up as it was 'What was best for them...' as they said. The past couple days, they've been sending out small teams to get supplies to bring back." Miyuki said quietly as she looked down at her hands. Silence filled the room outside of the pierced teen's pained gasp from the corner of the room. "If you are looking for your mom anywhere? Best bet is that she is there."

Naruto looked up from the girl who finished her brief explanation to share a look with Jin that spoke an entire conversation without saying a word.

They knew where their next destination would be...

But first...

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"Ugh that was just awful Saeko-san." Takashi groaned out in frustration as he took a seat on a car they had maneuvered to create the barricade opposite of the wall of dead zombies. He laid out the American designed Riot Shotgun gently to his left, absentmindedly fingering the shells that rested in his right pocket as he did so.

Saeko smiled weakly, and with a couple graceful leaps, she was quickly sitting down beside Takashi, her long legs casually laying off the side of the car. "I'm sorry Komuro-kun. I'll admit, I was hoping my advice would have been a bit more helpful, but I'll admit my experience with boys is a bit lacking." she admitted softly.

Takashi looked over to the purple haired woman as his right with a smile. "I thought you asked me to stop calling you Busujima-san? I figured you were going to at least call me by my first name Saeko." Takashi teased lightly as he lightly pushed her strong woman's shoulder, allowing their eyes met.

Saeko smiled despite the teasing, "It's a habit. I'm sorry." she said honestly as she turned to look off into the distance for any oncoming danger.

Takashi shook his head at that, "Don't be sorry." Takashi quickly said dismissively with a wave of the hand, "I was only teasing. You keep telling me you're sorry and seriously, you don't have to."

Saeko frowned but didn't look at the brown haired teen, instead opting to look off into the distance, "But I overheard your argument with Rei..." Saeko muttered with a pause, "You followed my advice and it blew up in your face. That? That is my fault Kom... Takashi-kun." Saeko finished her statement in a serious tone. Yet that serious tone in her voice was washed away with a yawn that was truthfully very unladylike and did indeed cause her to blush at her own display afterwards.

Takashi gave a small smirk at the action, but none the less shook his head. "That wasn't your fault Saeko. Your advice was sound. I just screwed up long before that. There is no way you could have known that." Takashi reasoned genuinely.

Saeko had a momentary crestfallen look come across her features. "Perhaps, but I should have know that before I tried to give you advice. My advice only served to make things worse."

Takashi sighed at the overly polite upperclassmen. "Like I said Saeko-san. It's not your fault. You couldn't have known the situation. Today I was just being stupid."

Saeko gave another yawn and nodded her head absentmindedly at the teen's words, which caused the brown haired boy to smile a bit. "Still... If I didn't know? I shouldn't have said anything."

"Tired Saeko-san?" Takashi asked dutifully ignoring the purple haired girls statement with a smirk playing across his features. He had no desire to stay on that particular subject any longer.

Saeko looked alarmed and despite her efforts, once again blushed under the scrutiny and the embarrassment. "I'm sorry, that was rude. Yes I'm tired. And I don't think your boring if that is what your thinking Komuro-kun. I just haven't slept."

Takashi gave the purple haired girl a grin, "It's fine. But Saeko-san, if you're tired? You should get some sleep." Takashi commented with a shrug of the shoulders

With a hand in front of her mouth, the purple haired female quickly shook her head, "No no..." she said tiredly. "I have to make sure everyone else is safe first before I can do that." emphasizing the statement with a closed eyed nod at the end.

Takashi smiled lightly at seeing how 'out of it' the normally collected girl carried herself. That however didn't stop him from letting out sigh and shaking his head as he asked, "You didn't go to sleep last night did you?"

Saeko only shook her head in response, her eyes still closed.

Takashi rolled his eyes and swung his legs over to hop off the car. "Alright Saeko, lets go, you're going to go get some sleep."

Saeko quickly and blindly gripped at Takashi's arm tightly. "No." she said in a tired voice, slowly opening her eyes to look over the empty streets before her. "Just talk to me, I'll stay awake." she said in a sleepy, but stubborn tone.

Takashi hung his head in response. It was like talking to a drunk person. And frankly the effects of extreme exhaustion and alcohol weren't much different from each other. "Saeko, you know what is on my mind. You should get some sleep." Takashi replied quietly, as he tried to lift his arm from the girl's grip.

"No, then I'll talk." Saeko quickly said, shaking her head a bit more than necessary in her tired state causing her purple hair to whip back and forth, only to fall back neatly into place as if guided by a higher power.

Takashi who had been formerly trying to gently pry his arm away from the his purple haired partner froze as he played over the words of the older girl. "Saeko... your tired. I don't want you sayi-"

"I envy you... Takashi." Saeko blurted out in a moments notice.

Takashi put a hand over his eyes briefly to block out the rising sun before pulling himself back up onto the car. "I don't understand Saeko-san." Takashi admitted. Envy him? There wasn't much to envy. He killed his crush's boyfriend, his crush hates him not only for his mistakes of the past, but also his actions of the present. His eye was still in pain from the punch he received from their blonde leader the other night, which he received when he _needed_ to be rescued. He didn't even have any unique skills like the rest of the group had. He was just... average.

"You have someone who truly cares about you, and others that also pursue you for those same reasons." Saeko said as she shifted uncomfortably in her position.

Takashi however scoffed at the idea. "I don't _have_ anyone Saeko-san. I don't know where you got that idea from."

Saeko held her hand to her mouth as she giggled a lightly, adopting a bit of a condescending tone as she spoke, "You don't see it do you Takashi? Takashi... girls that don't care? They don't get upset."

Takashi closed his mouth tightly at that comment. There was definitely merit to her words, but at the same time he had to doubt the situation at this point. He doubted at this point that either Rei or Yuuki wanted to spend any amount of time with him. "What about you Saeko?" Takashi asked, more than willing of directing the topic of conversation away from him.

"What about me?" she repeated in a carefree tone accompanied by a thin smile.

"Well you talk a lot about romance, is there anyone you like... liked before all of this happened?" Takashi corrected himself near the end realizing that the chances of the person even being alive at this point were slim to none.

Saeko seemed momentarily sad, but at the same time genuinely charmed at the thought, "I'm surprised you are so curious Komuro, with Miyamoto-san and all." Saeko finished with a sultry smile, gently pulling her legs up and bending them closer to her body so she could lean back.

"Kohta is working on the car, and well your the only one I've talked to since everything happened really. That and you are more approachable that Takagi." Takashi commented quietly which prompted a giggle from the woman beside him.

"Oh so it is because I'm the only one available is it?" she stated with amusement twinkling in her eye.

Takashi in an instant went wide eyed and turned to Saeko with his hands up in defense, "I didn't mean it like that." despite the purple haired female's continued giggles. Although it was with her giggling that he realized, "Are you having a go at me?" he asked with a frown gracing his features.

"It's fine Komuro-kun. We talk. And life is faster now. You want to get to know me. I get it." she said dismissively as Takashi continued to try and salvage his earlier comment. Saeko merely waved her hand before him dismissively.

"There were a couple men... that I liked... loved, really. Saeko said with a far off gaze as she turned away from Takashi. "However it was complicated." she finished with a grimace.

"Why was it complicated?" Takashi asked naturally in response.

Saeko's right hand involuntarily twitched at the recalled memory, an action that she quickly attempted to suppress with her free hand sweeping over to her disobedient one. She took one long look at the wooden blade that rested in her lap before turning to look the brown haired teen in the eyes and back. "No Takashi... it is _really_ complicated. I don't think any of you would really understand." Saeko admitted to herself a bit reluctantly.

Takashi frowned at that, "Try me."

Saeko took a deep breath and looked away from the brown haired teen. "They were two students in Fukijima High whom hung out in a bigger group. One was a senior, the other was a year older than me, but a freshman." Saeko said as she spared Takashi a glance simply at that part, seeing if the age difference would put him off in the first place. However upon no reaction, she continued.

"It was just last year actually, before you all arrived. The spear club, kendo club, and the martial arts club were all joined together. I was a freshman. I had been training with my sword since I was a little girl alongside my... father." she began, tightening her jaw as she took pause before the word father.

Takashi raised an eyebrow at that bit of information. "Why did the clubs split up into separate groups? Rei mentioned to me something about that happening but she didn't know why."

Saeko closed her eyes and shook her head, "Not many people outside the club actually knew the reason. Honestly not many inside the club knew it either. However one of the members, the senior, he was a prodigy. Like I myself am a good fighter, but its as if from birth he was a hundred times the fighter I could ever dream of being. He swept over the country, and even some places out of the country in martial arts, wrestling, and kendo tournaments."

Takashi tilted his head lightly as he tried to understand the issue, "So what? Was the school worried about how skilled he was or something?" he was honestly surprised he hadn't heard about this person from Rei if he had this sort of fame. Particularly if it had anything to do with spear wielding.

Saeko in turn shook her head in response. "Oddly? The funny thing is that was never the case. The school always viewed having a student that skilled as a flight risk. However the fact that he was rather passive and never actively sought out fights with people actually left him relatively ignored. At least until..." Saeko mumbled off at the end, a frown gracing her features.

Not needing Takashi to tell her to not leave him with a cliffhanger, she continued her short story. "He was head of the Kendo club at the time, although truthfully it was widely believed that he was the most skilled in all three branches the clubs were composed of. One day after school, a small show match tournament was held. The head of the Martial Arts club ended up fighting against the head of the Kendo club. They both ended up taking things too far."

Takashi allowed the possibilities to sink in. However his mind quickly began to develop plenty of scenarios, far too many for his mind to keep track of. "How did things get out of hand?" Takashi asked as the question quickly began repeating in his mind.

Saeko hung her head for a good while as that question lingered in the air. It was only after a nearly a couple minutes of silence between the two of them that Saeko stood up on the car, wooden blade in hand. She looked down at Takashi with a serious stare, "The head of the Martial Arts club ended up killing not only the Kendo club captain on purpose, but the former school nurse arrived and threw herself into the crossfire between the two fighters only to fall as well."

Takashi's breath got caught in his throat at that note. He never once expected for Fukijima High to have such a bloody history, particularly one he had never heard about.

Saeko hopped off the top of the car, landing gracefully despite the grimacing face, Takashi sincerely doubted it was from physical pain. "Complicated?" Saeko asked with a half hearted smile.

Takashi gave the best smile he could manage with the revelation he had just heard, so naturally it wasn't very great. "Well not really." he said calmly trying his best to be some mix of reassuring, supportive, and caring. However it really just made him come off as an emotional tornado.

Saeko flashed another half hearted smile, "Then I guess it's not." although it was plainly evident that given her far off look she didn't believe her statement in the slightest.

However before their encounter could continue any further, a short chubby brown haired boy came running up, gun in his hands, cheeks red from being short of breath.

"Hey guys!" Kohta said loudly as he reached the two teenagers before jabbing a thumb back over his shoulder to the zombie wall. "We've got a problem!"

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"Why the fuck are we still here when my mother is blocks away!" Jin whispered harshly from his position next to Naruto as he leaned against the wall of the darkened room with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You don't know that. And the boy is still wounded and needs to be stitched. However the girl is inexperienced. You have to give them time." Naruto replied back in a low voice as he observed the others around the room.

"We are better armed than they are! We can take one of them and go find my mother. We do not have to wait around for this." Jin continued to whisper with a raspy voice still filled with contempt towards the group.

Naruto continued to look forward from his position, not bothering to look Jin in the eye. "Just because we are better armed does not mean they are any less value as human beings. You would not be saying that if it was your mother on that table. The moment you start dismissing one person's life for another? Than none are of worth. We injured one of their own, we will wait until he is able."

Jin clenched his hands at that, "He is taking that bolt like a girl! We have been here for over an hour already, that pain is just going to get worse. We will never fucking leave this place."

"We will, and we will find your mother." Naruto replied quietly as he watched the teenage boy get his wound tightly wrapped by the fifteen year old girl.

"Empty promises hold no fucking comfort." Jin bit out as he roughly pushed himself off the wall, and moved up the stairs to the ground floor.

Naruto took a deep breath as a silence filled the room once again outside of a teenage boy's pained gasps and groans. Naruto gave a single look around to the group before giving a polite nod of the head as he followed Jin up the stairs.

It was only then that when the two boys were out of sight that the older blue eyed woman's eyes met with a younger girl's green. An unspoken conversation went between the two of them that prompted the green eyed girl to remove herself from her seat and follow the duo.

Naruto upon climbing to the top of the stairs took sight of Jin to the right banging on a closed door loudly with his hands and feet. Naruto was about to open his mouth and say something at the sight. But the footsteps behind him were quick to produce sound.

"Creating a loud racket is not going to get your mom back any sooner." Miyuki, the green eyed girl said in a dry tone.

Jin didn't turn around, but all of his actions stopped at the comment. He looked up the length of the door by tilting his head back and rolling his eyes. "I should have aimed for your mouth." Jin said in a groan before he reached back down to the doorknob and gave it a rough shake.

"Would have missed anyways." the girl quipped back with little interest.

Jin grit his teeth and clenched his hand tightly on his crossbow, fully prepared to spin around.

"Shut up, both of you." Naruto said coldly as he massaged his temples with his fingers. He was getting a headache again, similar to the feeling that caused him to let loose the contents of his lunch earlier in the morning that day.

Jin wisely choose to say nothing and turned his focus back to the doorknob, and more specifically how to open what it was attached to.

Miyuki however not knowing the blonde shinobi regretfully did not know that much about him. "And who the hell do you think you are?" she asked in a rather snotty tone, not very taken with the way the teen addressed her.

Jin snorted at that, "He's the leader of our company." he said quickly, not allowing Naruto a word in edgewise, knowing not just the blonde's skills, but his feats that he had performed since they met. "Strings up jumpy kids like you around the neck and off balconies with bedsheets." Jin taunted the green eyed girl.

Miyuki snorted, "Bullshit. This kid is probably younger than me. Same goes for you."

Naruto tightened his jaw at that remark. In the shinobi world it went without saying that age meant virtually nothing. Kakashi had said it best when he mentioned _'There are shinobi out there older than me that I am stronger than, just as there are shinobi younger than you that can defeat me.'_

Uchiha Itachi captured this ideal quite effectively, and rumors of the passive aggressive '_pacifist'_ spread across the Elemental Nations like wild fire, and it wasn't necessarily all about his skill with genjutsu.

"Yet age does not determine skill." Naruto responded to the comment as he casually walked past the woman whom bristled at the comment.

Naruto stepped up to the door, only a couple feet behind Jin as he asked, "What is beyond this door?"

Miyuki butted into the conversation as she stepped up beside Naruto, "Don't bother. We tried to get this thing unlocked for nearly a half hour. It's going to stay closed."

Naruto didn't bother to spare her a glance as he scanned the door with his ringed eyes, taking in every little detail. "I was asking the person that actually lives here." Naruto replied in a bored tone to the green eyed girl, an action which caused Jin to let out a snort.

"My dad used this garage as his workspace and tool shed. That and a place to store alcohol where I couldn't get to it for parties or whatever. He kept quite a bit around the house mainly to keep up with his bartending skills. That and he found how my mom acted while drunk... it was pretty hilarious." Jin reported as he took a step back from the door, certain he had given his own fair crack at the thing already.

Naruto sighed and gently wrapped his hand around the doorknob comfortably and took a deep breath.

The sight was one that left the two other teens in disbelief. The young blonde one moment was wrapping his hand around the doorknob? The next moment we was casually holding the door up off it's hinges simply by the door knob. The entire weight of the door resting against the teen's body as if it was weightlessly suspended.

Naruto casually dropped the now splintered giant slab of wood that formerly made up the door, and stepped into the garage of the house. Although that didn't stop the familiar burning sensation to start to slowly begin to itch at Naruto's arm beneath the metal shackle.

"Woah... This stuff could totally help the people back at the base!" Miyuki said in surprise as she stepped into the room, the light switch having been flicked on by Jin leaving the room dimly lit.

It could be called pretty close to a "Man's Wetdream" all the things that lined the walls and filled the room. There were autographed posters of a particular American football team covering an entire front wall in the room.

In front of the wall was a large wooden cabinet, that was a few feet from the wall. It was expertly crafted with carved designs elegantly etched into the framework. The large S shaped glass symbol on the doors was the only way to get genuine insight as to what was contained within. The large bottles of various alcohols filled the cabinet with labels such as Vodka, Gin, Scotch, Rum, and many others.

The entire back wall, opposite of the cabinet was a large work bench that showcased a significant amount of wear and tear. Tools littered the desk top, as dust collected. It was as if the room hadn't been entered in months.

The wall behind the workbench however was what had Miyuki's attention, and quickly garnered the attention of others in the room.

On the wall was a large but elegant bow that gleamed in the dim light of the room. It was obvious to the onlookers that it was of high quality. However to the more experienced eyes, they would realize the unique choices made while crafting the said bow. Such as the bow's collapsing capabilities.

A quiver hung on the wall beside the bow, gleaming in the light due to it's similar color. While the tips of the arrows were invisible to the human eyes, it was easy to make out the fine craftsmanship of the feathered ends.

Beside the bow hung a crossbow that was obviously a work in progress. It was missing some parts in contrast to Jin's currently fully functioning crossbow.

Beyond the weapons on the wall, the room was littered with tools of all kinds. They ranged from tools used for car repairs to delicate tools used to repair pocket watches.

"You aren't taking anything." Jin said gritting his teeth as he pushed past the teenage girl as he proceeded to the wall where the weapons hung.

"What?" Miyuki asked quickly, her eyes narrowing in anger. "We found this place first!" She proclaimed with her hands crossed over her chest.

Jin turned to the girl with a dead stare that was truly questioning how serious the girl was with her statement. "Alright..." Jin began slowly, "I am just going to raise a hand for how many fucks I give."

Naruto who had been absentmindedly watching the display as he looked around the room fought down a snort as Jin proceeded to raise no hands as he continued to stare at the girl.

He personally was in a tad uncomfortable amount of pain. It wasn't anything to cry home about. However it was certainly... uncomfortable. He had taken to looking around the room casually. The truth was he cared very little for the weapons on the wall. It was obvious that they were going to take them, that much was certain.

He was far more interested in the large posters that hung on the wall featuring men dressed in vibrant flashy colors holding stand orange seed like objects. They were big men too. However Naruto had no idea what the significance of "Football" or what this "Superbowl" was.

It was a painful reminder of how far out of his element he was. The technological advancements and the changes to society from his own time was still something he was trying to wrap his head around. It was as if the need for villages or towns to have a standing military never even existed. All that was really needed seemed to be police.

If someone had ever come up to him in his time and tried to propose they disband their entire military, and only retain the Konoha Police force? He would have probably died of laughter at simply how idiotic the idea seemed. At least how idiotic it seemed at that time.

But times were different.

"Times are different. Yet it is a shinobi's ability to adapt that makes us who we are." a voice called out from the doorway behind Naruto.

Naruto made a rapid turn that spun him around in an instant, as he adopted a rather defensive posture. The action completely and utterly stopped any and all arguments from both Jin and Miyuki who froze at the display.

"Hey man you alright?" Jin asked quietly, his eyes showing a bit of concern as he reached for the weapons on the wall now that Miyuki's attention was no longer on him.

Naruto felt that familiar feeling of a lump in his throat appear as he looked on past the two teenagers to the faded blonde image in the doorway.

It was only seconds later that the blonde apparition shifted and walked out of the room into the hallway, unseen by others, as if it was beckoning Naruto to follow.

"I'm fine." Naruto grumbled through his teeth as he reached his free hand over to lightly grip at the glowing shackle, and gently rubbed the itchy skin around it. "Excuse me." Naruto said as he was quick to move past the two teenagers.

Nothing seemed off with Naruto as far as Miyuki was concerned while the blonde left the room. However Jin on the other hand had the sinking feeling as he caught the familiar look on the blonde's face that reminded him all too well of his earlier breakdown in that day.

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"How could this happen?" Takashi yelled as he rushed down the stairs from the apartment. Over his shoulder was several bags, as he was rushing down the stairs. Beside him ran a slightly younger pink haired girl. She was running loyally behind him with a shotgun in her grasp, carrying it dutifully.

Although they weren't the only ones running. It had been complete and utter chaos for the last few minutes. The only sounds going off were the rhythmic shots fired from none other than Kohta who was crouched down on top of a vehicle, his weapon of choice in hand.

"Saeko-san! How is she?" Takashi asked upon reaching the bottom of the stairs. There was a small group of females surrounded near by the car. Shizuka had moved into the back of the Hum Vee after having assisted Shido into the vehicle.

Rei, Saeko, Yuuki and Saya crowded around one particular frantic middle aged woman, now stripped down to her bra and panties.

"Sit the fuck down, and stay there." Yuuki said harshly as she pointed to a corner wall on the driveway for the woman to sit. Much to the visible displeasure of Saya and Rei whom both would have preferred a more delicate approach with the woman.

Saeko however had turned and was already prepared to report to Takashi before she stopped to take a glance at the younger pink haired girl.

Takashi caught the unspoken message, and dropped some of the bags on his shoulders to crouch down and talk to the young girl. "Hey Alice? I need you to go wait in the car for us, alright? We will be there in a second." Takashi then extended his hand for the shotgun she held, when she dutifully returned to her savior with a worried nod before taking off to the vehicle.

"Saito and Ayane are both upstairs getting Nana. She hasn't even come out of the bathroom since she went in earlier." Saeko reported to the closest thing she had to a friend in the group.

"Doesn't matter." Yuuki said dismissively as she joined the conversation alongside Rei and Saya. "What the hell are we going to do about this stupid bitch?" she asked clenching her teeth as she jabbed a thumb over his shoulder to the woman huddled nearly naked in the corner of the drive way.

"Do you really need to be so rude to the woman?" Rei asked pointedly, her mood still sour with the girl and her encounter with Takashi earlier that day.

"You see that wall?" Yuuki asked in a condescending voice. "That wall is all that kept us from _them_. If her stupid group ten doors down couldn't make a damn proper barricade, and they all die? That is not our problem!" Yuuki said in a voice as if she was explaining first grade math to an eighth grader.

Before anyone could get a word in edgewise, Yuuki opted to finish her statement. Snapping her fingers like a idea just went off in her head, "Oh wait! This bitch made it our fucking problem. Now guess what? We're fucked." She gestured to the wall that was slowly starting to give way. The small funnel of zombies formerly moving in at one at a time had gone up to two or three at a time. Each shot drawing all of the zombies no longer focused on the bridge further in.

"What's her story beyond that though? Why is she... almost naked?" Takashi asked with a raised eyebrow.

Pointed looks from the three females stopped Yuuki from going off on another vulgar tangent.

"As Yuuki said, they had a group in the house down the street. The one that Alice and her father tried to go to..." Saya gave a questioning look around to the group during the pause, wondering if she should even proceed further.

Rei however had no such qualms. "You opened the gate when you went to save alice. Then you attracted a bunch of attention to their house. They held out for awhile, but without a high rise like ours, their group fell. The majority of them were bitten. One of them took their own life. Kitami-san saw the wall and ran through the zombies to get here. She ended up knocking part of the wall down when she climbed it."

Takashi however took a step back on that note as if he physically recoiled from the comment. "Wait so I'm resp..." Takashi dropped the remainder of his bags to the ground as he ran a hand through his hair in disbelief.

Saya was quick to attempt to come to the aid of the situation, "Statistically the chanc-" however she was cut off by Rei.

"It's your fault Takashi." She said a bit pointedly, her words holding more weight than just their current situation, "Your actions have consequences." Rei finished bitterly.

Takashi flinched at the weight of the words railing against him as he gave a look over to the middle aged woman in the corner. "And what about-"

"She's fucking bitten." Yuuki butted in, her tone still carrying that of a significantly pissed off individual.

Takashi's eyes grew wide at that the sudden thought of being responsible flooding through his mind.

"Wait! We don't know that. Kitami-san says that she is positive she wasn't bitten." Saya said correcting the vulgar girl.

There was a mumbled _'bullshit'_ from Yuuki. However that didn't deter Takashi from pressing forward on the idea. "How do we know?"

Yuuki snorted at that comment.

"We don't." Saeko said calmly, one of the first times she actually opted to speak out on the situation. "She has an injury on her back. She says that one of the weapons from the people in her group gave it to her under friendly fire. However..."

Takashi tightened his grip upon his shotgun as he looked down in thought, before lifting his head and asking. "Well what are we going to do?"

The females of the group merely stared back at Takashi in silence as a response to that causing the teen to adopt a frown.

"Why do I have to be the one to make this decision. Naruto is the leader here." Takashi said, reminded far too much of his failure and his need to be rescued on his attempt to save Alice.

"Because Naruto is not here. He ran away. He's not coming back." Saya said cooly. Although she was not ignorant to the pointed looks she gained from both Rei and Saeko at the idea. It was obvious that they weren't entirely on the same page with that idea. Although both said nothing.

"We need a leader." Takashi mumbled, his jaw tightening at the sight of the fearful woman in the corner that was not outwardly showing any signs of turning.

"I agree!" was the call from a new voice upon the stairs. Saito and Ayane were both walking down the stairs, their arms wrapped around Nana, whom was unmoving. It was only upon closer inspection that it was easy to see the blood that soaked her left arm.

"We need to get her to Shizuka-san." Saito said as he reached the ground level, surprising the teens now with the up close look at Nana.

"Shizuka-sensei!" Saya called out into the vehicle, ahead of the duo carrying the bloody girl.

Takashi had since swept in to take Ayane's place with the girl, and opted to assist Saito with carrying her. Frankly it was also partly his own 'Get Out of Jail Free' card from the conversation at hand.

"What happened to her?" Saeko asked, giving a worried gaze to the back of the Hum Vee where the unconscious girl was being slid in beside an equally unconscious Shido.

Ayane tightened her jaw as she looked over the girls in the group. She hadn't tried to be even slightly social with anyone. It was an awkward position for her when she felt like she was obligated to give them an explanation.

"We went looking for Nana upstairs, and went to the bathroom. It was locked, as it had been ever since Kohta escorted her there earlier. There was no response when Saito called out, so we broke down the door. She was passed out on the floor, with blood and cuts on her left arm." Ayane reported calmly, not going into more detail than necessary.

Yuuki scoffed at that, "Cutting the wrists? A bit dramatic if you ask me." she finished in a rather amused tone.

If there was anything such as a comment in poor taste, that was it. It earned her a significant glare from Rei in response. "Yeah it is too bad that no one stepped in and helped her earlier." Rei said pointedly.

Yuuki nearly got defensive, but she just returned a taunting smile, "Well well! Isn't the officer's daughter just full of double layered statements today."

The result was only an oncoming glare from the young spear wielder.

Over by the vehicle, another conversation was going on amongst the young men.

"We need to make a decision soon." Saito said quietly as he tucked his laptop into his bookbag, and gently slid it into the back of the Hum Vee, most likely where he intended to sit when the group moved.

Takashi's jaw tightened at that. Once again he was looked to by others by the decision maker in the absence of both Naruto and Jin. "I know..." Takashi relented as his gaze fell upon the distraught but panicking woman.

"Look, Kohta is good. I never really paid attention to him in school, I honestly never expected this from him. However eventually he is going to run out of bullets, and we will all be dead. The sooner the decision is made, the less resources we waste, and the quicker we get to safety." Saito continued despite Takashi's acknowledgment. Apparently feeling the need to stress the dire situation they were in.

"Look I got it!" Takashi said loudly as he turned fully to face Saito, despite the glare Shizuka sent back to the the duo. Speaking in a lower tone, Takashi continued, "What the hell would you have me do? Condemn her to death? What if she hasn't been bitten, and we just leave her here? If I make that decision, her blood is solely on my hands." Takashi asked Saito in a bit of distress before moving over to the female group. "What would Naruto do?" He asked loudly to the group, still trying his best to defer to their absentee leader.

A weight of silence washed over everyone as they took account for everything they had seen their rather no nonsense tough leader do over the past few days. This answer was pretty obvious to all of the people present. If there was anything Naruto did? It was protect the group, at all costs, even if that required protecting them from themselves.

He would leave the woman.

"We need to vote." the brown haired teen said with conviction. "I am not going to be the only person to make this decision." Takashi said loudly. He was not going to become like Naruto.

"Kill her or leave her." Yuuki was quick to say, a bit too loud.

"Wait! Your going to kill me? Or leave me? Are those the only options!" the young woman cried out as she stood up, and began gathering on her clothes that had been discarded on the ground earlier when she was searched.

Pained grimaces collectively filled the group all through varying intensities. Even Yuuki cringed as her own statement was harder to go through knowing the woman was now aware.

"You are all just teenagers? How could you choose to do something like that to someone. Is this how you are all like now?" the woman asked teary eyed as she approached closer to the group.

The group of teenagers fell silent, with varying degrees of emotion in their eyes as they landed upon the woman. Some, like Yuuki and Ayane took a step away from the woman. Others looked on in shame or pity at what they were already talking about doing.

"We are looking out for our group." Saya said quietly as she pushed her glasses further up on her nose as a shot went off in the background.

The woman, Kitami, sniffed back a few tears at that note, "Well a lot of great that does me right?" she then quickly reached down and grasped the hand of the nearest male, which happened to be Saito, "Please I'll do _anything_ just don't leave me out here to die." she pleaded, putting more than enough emphasis on the word 'anything' for a very clear image to flash through the minds particularly the men of the group.

Saito fought down a blush, and slowly pulled his hand away with a polite "No thank you." much to the agreement of a few women in the group.

Takashi absentmindedly wondered if he did that because he was legitimately not interested, or if the teen was just not interested with everyone watching him. It wasn't like the woman was bad looking by any means. Short shoulder length blonde hair, and dark eyes with fair skin. She could have passed for an older sister of Shizuka's perhaps had her chest been within the same ballpark of proportions.

"We haven't decided anything yet. However you aren't showing any signs of a person that is about to turn, so that is a good sign Kitami-san." Rei said politely with a smile trying to diffuse some of the gut wrenching tension.

This statement served to catch the attention of everyone in the group except for Takashi.

"What?"

"Miyamoto-san..."

"Wait!"

A whole slew of surprised statements varried from person to person as they heard the girl's confession. "Are you telling us you have actually seen someone become one of _them_?" Saya asked in a rather surprised tone.

Rei cringed at the memory, although tried her best to force herself to continue. At least she was going to, before Takashi spoke up for her so she wouldn't have to.

"It was her boyfriend, on the roof of the school." Takashi said quietly, remembering quite vividly what he had to do moments after the teen turned.

"Hisashi." Rei added to the statement as a bit of guilt ran through her system. She didn't want her former boyfriend, the boy who saved her life multiple times to just be remembered as '_a boyfriend'_ , he had a name, and she never planned on forgetting it.

Saya had a sick look suddenly flash across her face as she recalled her former attitude she had taken with Rei in the bathroom the night before. _'Oh no! Miyamoto wasn't just only nearly raped! She watched her boyfriend turn into one of those things, and then undoubtedly killed in front of her again.'_

"I'm sorry." Saya was the first to say, and it was all she really could say, particularly given how she acted to the teen.

This prompted a small wave of "I'm sorry's" or "I'm sorry for your loss" "My condolences", you name it.

A rapid fire of five shots from Kohta back to back brought the group back to reality and the situation at hand really quickly.

"Alright we need to get this resolved now." Saeko said in urgence with an uncharacteristic stress and exhaustion added to her tone.

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Naruto stumbled down the hallway in a bleary eyed daze as he made his way to the back door of the house. The process of leaning against counters and walls as his vision swam.

He was in pursuit of the blonde haired blue eyed apparition garbed in a white cloak. To say it was a painful process was the understatement of the century. His body seemed to be thrown further and further into pain as he followed the apparition. If Naruto wasn't so curious, and desperately wanting to see the ghostly voice that seemed to know more about him than others? He probably would have figured chasing something that gives him pain was a bad idea.

It was like a never ending quest or journey. Every step he took, he would get closer to the apparition, almost to the point where he could touch it. However the moment he was within arms reach of his intended target. It would move away effortlessly presenting itself out of reach. He couldn't even make out the face of the person to be honest with himself. However the distinctive blonde hair and blue eyes with a white cloak? He knew of one man very well that had those features.

Naruto stumbled up to the door, putting a hand in front of his face as the light pierced through the windows burning his eyes like coals on a fire.

He viciously kicked the few objects in front of the door that had barricaded the back yard. The chair hooked under the door quickly buckled as if it was in pain as one of it's legs broke under the kick from Naruto's foot.

Naruto with a bit of subconsciously chakra enhanced strength busted the door down under distress following the blonde figure outside.

It was a completely different world. Truthfully it was a completely different everything. One moment he was looking out into the backyard from the window to a yard that had a fence, a flowerbed lining it, and a few bikes.

Now? Now he was stuck in a place he couldn't even begin to place. All he could say about the place was that it was faded... very faded. The skies had been turned into a cloudy red. The surroundings, the homes, all of the notable things. They all vanished. All that remained now was a bed of dirt with a complicated sealing array formed on the bloodied ground.

Yet the thing that stood out the most was that the figure was no longer a faded image, something Naruto took note of right away. The fact that he could now perfectly identify the person that ran through his mind constantly.

"You..."

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"Hey..." Miyuki said quietly as stepped closer to the tall teenager. He had been in the process of absentmindedly running a hand over the cabinet full of various alcoholic beverages, already done going through the room since Naruto left a good ten minutes before.

"What?" Jin asked dryly as he was pulled from his thoughts by the green eyed girl. He removed his hand from the wooden cabinet, taking a deep breath as he did so in order to turn to face the older girl.

"What are you thinking about?" Miyuki started quietly, fidgeting on her feet as she looked over her shoulder to the door, not paying much mind to what she was actually asking.

Jin's jaw tightened at the girl's question, particularly since he didn't find her quite pleasurable company. "My dad, my mom, my group." he listed off bitterly as he spared the raven haired girl a glance. "I have a lot to think about."

Miyuki pursed her lips as she turned and leaned back against the cabinet. "Look, I get that you don't like me..." a snort from Jin was quickly heard loud and clear, "But that doesn't mean we can't try and move forward."

Jin shook his head as that, rapping his fingers on the cabinet before him. "There is no _we_. There is just a _me_, _me and Naruto_. Just because your group decided to kidnap my mother doesn't mean I have to give the slightest shit about you." Jin finished with a pointed look, standing up straight letting his rather imposing size tower over the shorter woman. "The only reason we are even still here waiting on your little friend is because you are going to take me to my mom."

Miyuki's eyes dropped at that statement. It seemed her attempt at diplomacy had utterly failed, "Look, there is something I should tell you." Miyuki said quietly as she locked eyes with the teen beside her.

Jin held her gaze silently, while not caring for the girl, he was willing to listen to anything important she may have to say.

"I told you some of the people in the area that the gang have been taking? Well most of them... they haven't been going willingly. While the environment they have, its safe from the outside. However just be careful. This outbreak or whatever it is? It's changed people. If you find your mom, she might not be the same person you remember." Miyuki said cautiously in a quiet tone, delicately choosing her words.

Jin's eyes narrowed at that, "What?" he asked with a cold tone flowing into his voice.

Miyuki's lips tightened as she was prompted to repeat herself. "Just be careful, don't get your hopes up is all I'm trying to say." she said quietly, pursing her lips at the end of her statement.

Jin's hands clenched at the wooden desk he leaned upon as various scenarios flooded through his mind. None of them pleasant as he thought of the possible situations his mother could find herself in. "She's fine." Jin said tensely, as if he was trying to reaffirm the notion to himself.

"Look, I just want you to b-"

"She's fine alright? We are going to go there, I'm going to get her, then me and Naruto are going to get back to our group and everything is going to be just fine. Got it?" Jin said as he clenched his eyes shut alongside his fists.

Miyuki crossed her arms over her chest tightly, none too keen at being cut off. "Fine, think whatever you want. I don't care. While you hope for the ideal situation, I'll be sure to tell you 'I told you so' when the women you find is not the same woman you remember." Miyuki spat out before she began making her way to the door, an annoyed look on her features.

"Look..." Jin began with pursed lips, which was enough to give Miyuki pause at the doorway. "I just can't allow myself to think like that." Jin said with a tense heart as the possibilities of what could be happening to his mother floated through his head.

Miyuki gained a resigned look at that and in turn nodded her head slowly. "Alright, well I'm going to go look for that blonde friend of your's. You should get anything that would be valuable to us, and make a pile of it to carry or load into our car."

Jin nodded, not bothering to look towards the girl and give her any more confirmation than that.

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Miyuki sighed heavily as she stepped out of the room she had left the tall crossbow wielder. At this point it was habit how she went about her routine. Miyuki knew that deep down, anyone who had lived this long had developed a routine. That or they had submitted to those more capable than them.

Whenever she was going to go out, she had her routine. Grab her makeshift spear. Check her gear. Then perhaps most importantly? Her ties.

She reached into her bulky pocket, only to find her hand dipping into a large collection of shoe laces. Shoe laces of all kinds.

Miyuki spread a shoelace thinly, wrapping it tightly on two fingers on each hand before sweeping it down and under her hair. Bringing the lace up she pulled her hair into a long ponytail, tying her hair down several times down the length. It wasn't particularly fancy, but it kept her hair out of her face, and that was by far the most important when her life was at risk every moment she was outside.

Miyuki closed her eyes and pursed her lips as she wiped off the unmistakable scent off of her hands onto her clothes. She had coated the numerous shoe laces in alcohol. There were very few things that one could find to be actually useful on the streets. However rope was always useful, and the idea that every walking dead getting killed on the streets had about sixty inches of lace on their person? Someone could do a lot of things. Although that didn't stop her from dousing the laces in alcohol to prevent any possible diseases that those _things_ may carry.

Upon tying up her hair, she clutched her spear in hand, adjusted her tight black tank top, and swept down the hallway. While the two teens she had met recently weren't the most social of sorts, but she knew that if their group was going to have any form of success, they needed to push their differences aside. If that meant getting the shorter blonde back his abrupt wanderings? Then so be it.

Miyuki leaned against the wall next to the back door for a few moments as she delicately peeled back the blinds to take a look out the window. She knew it really wasn't that big of a deal. The walkers around the town attacked through sound, they were by all means blind without it. Yet it didn't stop the instinctual feeling to hide one's self when trying to be stealthy.

The sight outside only rewarded her with the vision of the young blonde knelt on the ground clutching his wrist, appearing to be in considerable pain as he gazed upward.

Miyuki quickly moved to the door, throwing it open with little effort making it slam against the inside wall. Stepping out into the backyard of the house, of any house used to be easy. Yet the act of stepping outside anywhere was now adrenaline inducing. It was truly hard to really describe how stressful the situation they were in was. It didn't matter how special a person was in their past life. It didn't matter how bad a person was in their past life. All that mattered was the now. The fact that the moment you leave the safety of your home, you can die at any moment in the most brutal of fashions.

Before she made her move to reach Naruto, she gave a wide berth of the house's back wall as she checked around the corner, spear at the ready. It was only when she truly believed that she was safe and in the clear that she went to reach the blonde.

Or at least she tried to.

A silvery mist stopped her from moving any further, as if some form of invisible barrier was stopping her from moving any further. The barrier was a good five feet around Naruto in the center of the backyard. To say the situation disturbed her would be an understatement. Yet while every single instinct, every muscle, every bone in her body told her to run from the situation? That the circumstance was not normal, and therefore a danger? When the blonde started speaking, she couldn't force herself to leave.

"How are you here? It's not possible." Naruto said in disbelief with a shake of the head as he looked down to the ground beneath him, what he was seeing clearly different than the sights before Miyuki.

Miyuki shifted on her feet as her grip on her spear tightened despite her swelling fear in her gut.

"That's not possible." Naruto replied to apparently a half of the conversation that was completely lost on Miyuki. "I watched you die. What you're saying... it can't be true."

Miyuki's eyes widened a bit on that note. It was with that statement that it became apparent that the blonde wasn't simply trying to speak to her in his exhaustion, and that he was indeed seeing things that she simply couldn't. She took the end of her spear, and softly tried to poke the end of it into the blonde. Yet sure enough, a silvery mist barrier made itself known surrounding the blonde.

The blonde scoffed with a shake of his head as he stared up in defiance to an unknown individual. "What do you know? You died long before I even left. I watched you die!" The blonde repeated, giving only the briefest of a pause between this statement and Naruto's quick retort, "Oh bullshit. I wouldn't care if you were an Uchiha, a Rinnegan wielder, and I certainly don't care about the Senju."

Miyuki wanted desperately to ask about the names or titles she was hearing, and what they meant. However that desperation quickly died as the blonde's eyes started glowing. The pale ringed eyes that were so easy to ignore with all of the stress and hardships surrounding their now regular day to day lives burst forth in color. Misty wisps of energy rose out of the blonde's eyes like a colored steam.

It was at that moment that the misty substance seeping from the blonde's eyes started pouring out as if a floodgate had been broken. The entire aura quickly began covering him, all the while the blonde let out a blood curdling scream of agony.

"Hey!" Miyuki yelled in a panic as she slammed herself up against the invisible force. She rebounded just as hard off of it as if she was trying to tackle a wall of laced rubber bands.

"Hey damnit! How can I help you!" Miyuki yelled out doing her best to make her voice heard over the blonde's. Although she was quickly coming to realize that the groans and the scratching and banging on the gate behind her on the side of the house may very well becoming a more pressing matter.

"Leave child!" a female voice cut into the black haired girl's thoughts abruptly forcing her to spin back around to where the voice came from. She was only able to catch sight of the youthful looking blonde haired beauty staring back at her intently before her form vanished from existence in an instant as if it was never there to begin with.

She didn't need to be told twice. The dead rising out of their graves and killing people was one thing. She was already having to deal with that. She wasn't about to jump at the chance to introduce ghosts into the mix.

A loud groan alerted her to the new found presence of new but sickly familiar company. Although perhaps it was the stench that gave them away way before that.

The emerald eyed girl clutched her spear in one hand like a javelin and watch as the rotting being attempted to go for the loudest target in the area, Naruto.

The closest zombie, with its intestines hanging out pooling around it's legs, tried to barrel at the screaming blonde shinobi.

Miyuki had to admit that she probably would have found the situation comical if it weren't for the fact of how grave the situation actually was.

The zombie looked as if it dove head first into a wall, it's arms flailing about in the process. Upon bouncing backwards off of the wall, it's brainless back step caused it's intestines to rise up around the ankles and proceeded to trip itself.

Miyuki didn't even bother to look a gift horse in the mouth at the situation as the zombie proceeded to claw at the air, unable to figure out why it couldn't effectively get back up onto it's feet. The black haired girl merely stepped forward, spear in hand, and sunk the blade deep into the eye socket of the flailing zombie.

Although she knew now wasn't the time to clap and pat herself on the back. Just a single look down the side of the house told her than this was only the beginning.

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"I can't fucking believe this! Are you serious?" Yuuki yelled out in frustration as she spun around a full 360 in the process of her statement, her hands in her hair in a stressed outrage. She swelled up closer to the target of her outrage, "Takashi please, you can't be serio-" she said as she tried to place a hand on the young teen's chest.

"Back off." Saya said harshly as she leveled a glare at the older girl, stepping between her reach toward Takashi. "The _leader_ made his decision." She said loudly to the entire group of people that had been swarming around Takashi the entire decision making process.

"Please don't call me that." Takashi said as a bitter feeling swelled up inside of his mouth.

This however did not stop the barely clothed woman, Kitami, from barreling into the brown haired boy with a teary eyed sob. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" Kitami gushed out, "I promise you wont regret this, I will do anything you all want, thank you! Thank you!"

Yuuki's jaw tightened as she took a step back from the collected group. "I can't believe you are all seriously think this is a good idea." she commented, trying her best to remain calm in the situation.

Rei pursed her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest. "There are worse things out there than just _them_, Yuuki-san." Rei said clearly recalling her encounter with the man at the gas station. An experience she had no desire to repeat, ever again.

"You're right! Worse like inviting someone who is going to turn into our car? She is going to undo us all!" Yuuki said brutally as she stabbed a finger in the older woman's direction. She then turned her gaze pointedly to Takashi, "And I want you to know it will be your fault when it fucking happens."

Takashi at the point garnered an incredulous look, "Why the hell is it my fault!" he yelled out as he locked eyes with Saito or Saeko trying to get clarification for the rather ridiculous accusation. "We had a damn vote!" he said loudly, following Saito's subtle nod in the direction of the Hummer in order to follow suit with some of the other members of the group that had already piled into the vehicle.

Takashi quickly began steering the group to the vehicle as he spoke. "If you don't like it?" he said loudly as he reached one of the side doors on the vehicle, "You can leave!"

Everyone took a moment on the side of the car to let those words sink in as the stared as Takashi, ready to pile everyone into the vehicle.

"I'm not this leader you all keep trying to make me out to be. There is not one damn thing special about me. I am not smart, I'm not taking college classes, I am not skilled with weapons, I'm not older than all of you. I'm just me. Stop treating me like I'm some damn leader all of a sudden. Just because Naruto is gone right now doesn't mean all the fucking decisions get delegated to me!" Takashi barked out, letting a huge weight roll off of his shoulders. "Now get in the fucking car."

The group was filled with varying reactions, but no one said anything. The look of a tired but sad understanding flashed over Saeko's features. A look which was much similar was shared by Saito as he wasted no time in climbing into the back of the vehicle and reaching his laptop, and immediately pulling it open.

Yuuki had a look of disgust as she watched Kitami climb into the back of the vehicle, following behind Saito. She made a point of locking eyes with Takashi before moving to the front and saying, "Whatever, I'm driving." she ground out as she swung the door open, and climbed in slamming the door shut before there could be adequate protest.

Rei looked as if she had magically had some large revelation about the situation, and a small bit of guilt washed over her. She gave a weak smile and a nod as she stepped up to Takashi whom was still holding the door open before. Although that was all that was shown between them as Yuuki wasted no time in honking her horn for Hirano to run up the long driveway, destroying any moment that the two teenagers could have shared there, prompting Rei to step into the car.

Saya, the last one to have yet to get into the vehicle crossed her arms in a familiar calculating look she had given the brown haired boy since childhood. "What are you doing?" she asked in a rather condescending tone as she shook her head in exasperation.

"What the hell do you mean what am I doing?" Takashi asked in frustration, the weight of their situation starting to pour onto him as he looked behind himself from the door to see Hirano back peddling up the driveway, loading shell after shell with the shotgun with practiced ease. How he was moving with those weapons so easily was beyond the brown haired teen.

Although this act of not looking as Saya merely gave her the opportunity to slap away Takashi's hand from the door, and proceed to slam the door shut.

"What the hell?" Takashi growled out as he tried to open the door again, but Saya pushed her hand firmly on the door preventing such an action from ever happening.

"Damnit Takashi. We need a leader. We don't need a damn democracy. You can be our leader." Saya said as she held the brown haired boy's gaze with conviction in her eyes.

Takashi shook his head, "Move Saya. If anything I'm the least qualified to be a leader. I'm not... like... some special person or any better than any of you."

"Takashi!" Saya snapped, not letting the boy go any further down that train of thought. "I have known you since we were kids. I have always been there for you, and I have watched you all of this time. The moment all of this happened? What did you do? You came into the classroom right away and took control of the situation." she said fighting down the wince of pain knowing that he had come in the classroom that day not for her, _but for Rei_.

Takashi gained a skeptical look despite the group being pressed for time. However Hirano was making his way slowly up the driveway. He apparently couldn't move that quickly with the weapons. However whatever kept him safe was best as far as he could see.

"Look, being a leader is something someone is born with. It's an instinct. Like all of us may one day be capable of being a leader, and we may all have our skills, fine. However none of us have that drive, that fire that would convince a person to follow them Takashi." Saya said proudly as she push a hand up to the brown haired boy's chest, or more specifically his heart when she spoke of fire.

"What about Naruto?" Takashi said with pursed lips.

"What about Naruto?" Saya repeated coldly, "Fuck Naruto, that's what." she said bluntly. "Naruto left us when we needed him. He is not a leader. Or perhaps, he is a leader? But he is not a leader for us. He doesn't care. You do Takashi. People look to you as a leader for that very reason."

Takashi's lips formed a thin line as he listened to Saya, and despite the fact that some people in the vehicle had slightly rolled down the windows to see what was being said, he didn't bother to stop his pink haired friend.

"I see you spend all of this time not sure of your decisions. You are constantly comparing yourself to Naruto. Why? Because he was our first leader?" Saya shook her head at that thought as she spoke with a passion. "No..." she said softly. "Naruto should be comparing himself to you."

Despite the gunshots in the background as Hirano climbed closer and closer, it felt like a silent night as Saya let loose that straw to break a camel's back.

"You seem so confused as to why people want you to be our leader Takashi. Why people look to you for guidance?" Saya shook her head with a weak smile, "You idiot." she mumbled under her breath.

"What?" Takashi finally made his voice known after it's long absence, thoroughly confused.

Saya shook her head once again as she said, "Takashi, the only person who is confused as to why you should be the leader is you." Saya said as she began to realize just how close the two had gotten ever since she put her hand on the teen's chest. Frankly, the two were nearly pressed up against each other.

Takashi stood there in a bit of a stunned trance as he let those words slam into him before glancing over the car, and realizing that indeed everyone was watching the scene play out with a similar gaze, which in turn caused the brown haired teen to stand up a bit straighter.

Saya however at this point was blushing up a storm, and was merely thankful her back was to the Hummer as her thoughts began to go haywire. She was always a fast thinker, but this was fast even for her. All of her thoughts pouring through her head in regards to Takashi, her crush, and their proximity. And perhaps the most important one flooding through her head. _'You may never get another chance.'_

Takashi turned his gaze down to Saya and closed his eyes with a nod as he truly accepted her words. He then in turn reached behind her for the door, to finally move on from their situation with a newfound confidence.

However it was at that moment that Saya's confidence too swelled into full effect. She once again pushed back, preventing the door from opening. However time seemed to slow down for both Takashi, Saya, and all of the onlookers as Saya cupped the brown haired boy's cheek.

It was then that the scene unfolded in an instant, so that Saya knew she couldn't lose her nerve. She brought her lips up into a passionate kiss with Takashi, her childhood crush, and could only silently pray at that point that he in turn would kiss her back.

Which he did... after a moment of shock. However the moment was forced to be cut short as it was no where the time or the place.

"You're our leader. I want you to be who you were meant to be. Not later, or tomorrow, but now! So please. It doesn't matter what people think of you. What matters is what you think of yourself."

Takashi however was still a bit stunned by the kiss to truly process his friends words. He couldn't tell anyone if it was because he secretly had feelings for his friend? If he wanted to make Rei jealous? If he was just doing it to not hurt his friend? Or if perhaps it was just instinct to kiss back against a person who was kissing you. He had no idea at that moment. Yet one thing was certain? One person certainly didn't approve.

"Move Kohta!" Yuuki yelled as she stuck her head outside the window. It wasn't to say they were the best of friends. However they were certainly on a first name basis after the time they spent together worki ng on the car.

Both Takashi and Saya spun instantly to see the sight of Kohta immediately stopped still as he looked upon the kiss between Saya and Takashi. Those with a proper view may have even noticed the boy suddenly look down to the finger he had near the trigger of one of his many guns, before looking up once again to lock eyes with the brown haired boy he formerly would have called his friend as his finger slowly slid onto the trigger.

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****Yo Dawg! Heard you guys hate cliffhangers! So I gave you guys another cliffhanger to fuel your rage against cliffhangers!

Alright well there we have it, a much longer chapter today. Probably twice as long as the last chapter, if just slightly less. So anyways I am giving a partial apology for how long this arc is lasting. Right now there is a split focus between following both Takashi as a main character and Naruto as a main character. Things will become more centered on Naruto after this arc, and therefore easier to write. That said, I don't think what I am showcasing is bad, just long. Thankfully though, this arc will be ending soon. I can't say for sure how many more chapters as it depends on the length. Although I'd say no more than 3 to sum everything up given my typical chapter length.

So thank you everyone who has stuck with the story and has been enjoying it thus far. It has been quite the blast to write.

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Onto some minor notes and insight for any readers. If you don't care, you can just skip this and go about your day.

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Saeko as you saw obviously has some changed history. The fact of the matter is that a lot of characters in this story have some changed history, or their history is just expanded on. I intend to stay true to the original characters, while at the same trying to make them feel more complete as characters. So each of the characters has their own backstory as well as personality and history being fleshed out. I felt the original characters with rather stereotypical flat characters, so I wanted to work on that as I moved forward, focusing on a few characters at a time.

On another note, the new group of OCs recently introduced are temporary. I don't want everyone feeling like they are having to keep track of suddenly 5 more people.

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Questions?

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Anyways I am really happy people liked Jin. I knew I would be walking on thin ice with trying to craft a character from scratch but at the same time not suffocate the audience in the said character. So hopefully I have done a good job with that.

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On the note of the Rinnegan being out in the open, but no one commenting on it? Same goes for his whiskers? As far as I feel, they are interesting features, sure. However unless they are actively trying to analyze Naruto's appearance? They aren't going to find it incredibly noteworthy. His eyes and whiskers are merely a small detail when they are in a world where the dead come back to life and try to kill you. I feel at that point in the eyes of the characters, you start describing others not by appearance, but by their actions.

Like... Naruto, the dependable leader

or Saeko, the young collected skilled swordswoman

etc etc etc

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On the note of Naruto's hatred for his family or Jiraiya. I don't necessarily want to call it a loathing hatred. However he is just frustrated with his situation. He doesn't actively mope about it or push his own problems onto others, he carries that weight of his on his own shoulders and lives the hand he is dealt. You merely get to see his thoughts because a lot of the story is written through Naruto's eyes.

Naruto doesn't hate them. He just feels that they could have done a lot more, or they could have done things differently. However they didn't. Yet he was the sole person that really got screwed over by their actions, because he didn't have a choice in the matter. Everyone else did. He feels that if they chose for him to live that life, then that is fine. However they shouldn't expect him to be on good terms with them when they condemned him to such a life when things could have been different.

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Anyways I will leave everything at that. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. Although, frankly it is better to be put in a Review as then if anyone has a similar question, I can give everyone an answer at once. Nothing is more frustrating then responding to 5+ PMs the exact same way with different wording.

So read and review, I hope to hear from you all on how you feel about the chapter. Likes and dislikes. All of it helps with building the story. So best of luck to all of you.


	16. Ain't No Sunshine

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or High School of the Dead.

**This chapter essentially is going to wrap up this arc of the story. However I didn't originally intend to do that. So I will be posting the ideas/concepts that were cut from this arc at the bottom if you have any questions in this chapter.**

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"Did you ever think it would come to this Takashi?" a young female asked as she laid back in the chair of a recently acquired means of transportation.

The boy in question gave a grimace in response. "Is that a trick question?" the brown haired teen asked tiredly as he looked out the window to the fading darkness in the sky, gently letting his fingers scrape across the fancy leather seats.

The purple haired warrior smiled in return despite the avoidance as she casually shifted her wooden practice blade to her side. "No." she said quietly in response as she cast a glance to the woman, Kitami, in the corner of their vehicle.

Kitami was bound at the ankles with a pair of pant legs tied together. In her mouth, a small piece of cloth was located, and tied around the back of her head. Although despite the restraints, a complete and utter calm on her face showed through her blissful sleep as she curled up in the corner on the rounding cushions.

"Then no Saeko, I never thought that the dead would one day come back to life and kill everyone I have ever known, and completely ruin my day at school." Takashi quickly bit out in bitter frustration, before slapping a wooden window cover closed in disgust as he looked out across the streets.

Saeko sighed as she looked down and shook her head. "You know we need that open Komuro-kun." Saeko addressed politely.

Takashi tightened his jaw at the realization before conceding and slowly opening the wooden seal on the window once again. "You're right." he admitted as he slid it open and leaned back. Although not before checking back over his shoulder to Kitami in the back corner of the vehicle.

"So are you." Saeko commented. "About both things." she said as she analyzed every inch of the young man before her.

"Excuse me? Both things?" Takashi asked in confusion.

"_Both_ _things_." Saeko reaffirmed. "You are right that there is no way you could have possibly expected for any of this to happen. No one saw it coming. However you were also right with _her_." Saeko stated, inclining her head just slightly towards Kitami resting in the back.

Takashi shook his head at that thought. That was a whole different matter entirely. "We'll see." he muttered as he cautiously glanced back at the sleeping woman. His overly critical stare picking up on more than typical.

"_Hey, you guys back there alright?" _ the voice of Saito queued in over a radio along with a good portion of static and background noise.

Takashi kept a staring contest with Saeko as the moments of silence went by between the two of them.

"_Hey you guys alright?" _Saito's voice rang out of the black radio dangling in between both the purple haired swordswoman and the brown haired teen.

It was like a battle of wills between the two parties on whose stubborn mentality would give in first. However Takashi's gaze was no match for the older girl's stare.

Takashi reached up and grabbed the black radio and cupped it in his hand clicking in the button, "We're alright." he muttered before looking up to the girl across from him. "Saeko is just getting pretty tired and is falling asleep." Takashi added on, making the young woman in question snap up right.

"No I'm not, I'm fine!" she tried to quickly say loudly back over the radio, but it was to no avail as the radio had long since cut off on their side.

"Why did you say that?" Saeko asked bitterly, only to be nearly drowned out by Saya's voice coming in over the radio.

"Do you need someone to switch with Busujima-san?"

Takashi moved to grab the radio once again. However the purple haired female was not having any of that, not without a fight. A scramble occurred within moments.

Saeko slapped Takashi's arm up to the roof of the vehicle, pinning it to the ceiling with her wooden kendo blade.

Takashi in turn simply dropped the radio from his grasp and let it free fall through the air into the grasp of his free hand. It was a rather smooth plan. It probably would have gotten the jump of surprise out of anyone in their group currently... but not Saeko.

Saeko lashed out and gripped Takashi's wrist as he tightly held the radio in his grasp. Although that wasn't Saeko's full plan. She showed off her considerable skill as she lashed out with one of her heeled boots, and trapped Takashi's neck under her foot pinned to the window behind him.

And then she began to pull on his hand.

"No I'm fine." Saeko said with an even tone into the radio she had pried from Takashi's grasp, as the brown haired teen wasn't too fond of the idea of choking just for a radio. "But we should be finding a place to rest for the day. While we did only just leave Rika-san's house, we don't know how often we will be able to consistently find places to rest. We should take the ones we find."

"I agree." Saito queued in over the radio before the radio feed abruptly stopped as if there was a scramble for it.

"Hey how is the boat holding together?" Yuuki asked quickly. Although there seemed to be a bit of agitation in her voice as both vehicles shook as she made a rather sharp turn, slamming right into one of the walking dead.

Takashi and Saeko both locked eyes as if they were both wondering how to go about answering the question.

The boat they had found had a lot of space for it's size. It had a small lounging area below the deck which they were currently located in. The fact that it was also comfy was just a bonus, a large bonus. They were in dire need of extra space. Even with the fact that two members of their group left? The addition of a new member only served to enhance the cramping feeling.

The area they were in was dimly lit, with comfy brown leather seats. It was even accompanied by with large silky soft blankets and big fluffy pillows. Although that wasn't to say there wasn't any downsides.

While the area appeared clean, they knew better due to when both Takashi and Saeko had taken stock of the things. The fact that there was a dirty blanket kicked and stuffed into a low compartment. The bowl of condoms that rests on a small desk like surface in the corner. There was even a pair of panties stuck between a pair of seat cushions. So despite the boat being nice, and appearing clean? Looks could be rather deceiving.

"Everything is fine back here." Takashi said over the radio as he locked eyes with his purple haired partner, pushing her foot out of the way.

"Good." Yuuki replied back, "Because we are about an hour out."

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"_Wake up."_ a female voice called out in the mind of the sleeping figure, only to receive no response or indication that he heard her in return.

"_Oh get off your ass you little shit. There is no way you are going to die in this mundane existence. Now wake up! We have things to do." _the feisty voice yelled throughout the halls of his mind serving to garner a groan from the sleeping blonde. Yet his body still refused to open it's eyes.

"What the hell do you want from us? Where is my mother!" Jin's yelling voice carried through the room as he struggled against two armed men.

"Forget your mother. They took our weapons! Your bows? Our guns? We're trapped here." Miyuki yelled out only for her voice to die off near the end of her statement. "I can't believe Kagura betrayed me." she whispered to herself harshly.

"Calm down, both of you. Yelling does nothing for us. We are her prisoner, and wont see her until she wants to see us." A new female voice said softly but with confidence.

"Calm down?" Jin ground out. "My mom is held up with these thugs, the only person who I trust is in some kind of god damn coma, we are stuck in this damn room like prisoners, and you want me to calm down? Who the hell are you to tell me that?" Jin bit back in response.

The woman's retort was a tight grip on Jin's wrist, and pinning it behind the young teen's back as she forced him flat against a cold wooden table, his head rebounding off the surface. "I'm a soldier boy, who the fuck are you?" the woman asked as she kept Jin pinned down to the table.

"A soldier?" another female voice said in an appraising yet condescending tone. "Aren't you supposed to protect the people?" she asked, her voice growing louder as she stepped into the room. "Get off him." the woman stated, her tone leaving little room to argue.

The female soldier pinning Jin down to the table took a step back with her hands raised. Jin's response to the action was a glare and nearly a growl as he roughly whipped his arms straightening out his clothes.

"So you have the scout?" the woman began with a level of authority as she sent a pointed gaze to Miyuki, "A hunter?" she gaze a suggested title in Jin's direction. "A soldier." she stated as she turned her gaze to the female standing a few feet from Jin. "And a _broken_ boy in a coma." she finished sourly as her gaze fell on Naruto. "Sounds like mighty long odds. A fools errand without proper guidance."

"Naruto is a fine leader." Jin quickly spat out, his loyalty bleeding through.

"And here I thought since you all arrived together, you were being lead by the soldier? Or are you truly following a man named after a ramen topping?" the woman in charge said as she turned to the female soldier.

"Acquaintances." she said quickly with a level of distaste. She apparently didn't like the thought of being associated with the other three individuals she arrived with.

"I see. Well your name soldier? I could use more people like you. The fact that you are a woman only sweetens the deal."

"Rika." the soldier stiffly answered.

"Well then Rika, I'm Kagura. And you three? You three are welcome to stay here as long as you like as long as you pull some of the weight." Kagura said as she locked eyes with everyone in the room.

"Easily said when we are all prisoners here Kagura." Miyuki bit out, betrayal sticking to her features.

Jin however had something else in mind, "The three of us? What about Naruto?" He said uneasily as he gazed over to the blonde laying prone.

"The sick and needy are of no concern to me." Kagura stated bluntly with little regard to the blonde. However before there could be any response, she snapped her fingers. "And you're not prisoners here, you're guests."

Two guards stepped into the room, carrying numerous firearms, a spear, a bow, and a crossbow.

"Your weapons, kindly returned." Kagura stated with an over exaggerated bow. "Welcome home." Kagura muttered as she locked eyes with Miyuki before she gestured them out of the room to their freedom.

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"It is hard to believe this place is secure." Rika said as she walked alongside the young emerald eyed female as the slowly trailed behind a frantically searching Jin.

Miyuki's lips tightened into a thin line at those words. "The upper floors are secure." she said slowly as they rounded around a corner only to spot Jin nearing the end of the hall, having peeked into cubicle after cubicle that had went on to serve as rooms for the people staying there.

"Just the _upper floors_?" Rika asked with a heightened eyebrow as she suddenly found her gaze lingering on the stairway exit.

Miyuki weakly nodded in response. "The stairwell is guarded by armed and armored men. They mainly use fire axes or pipes in order to conserve the small amount of fire arm ammunition we have. In fact, I'm surprised they didn't take your weapons permanently. They could use gear like that now more than ever."

"They?" Rika asked the younger woman.

Miyuki's shoulders slumped at the unspoken question. "It wasn't even more than a few hours ago where I would have considered this place to be my family and home since _that day_. Yet after being out there... with _them_? While people like Kagura get to rest in some throne of power here? I don't want to be a part of that. I don't want to be thrown away like cannon fodder to _those things_."

"I won't let that happen to you." Rika said in an assuring voice despite having only just recently met the raven haired girl.

"Yeah, we'll see." Miyuki said in a worn and tired tone.

"You should have a little bit more faith. I'm going to go meet with a friend of mine. If you want to come? You and your friend can both join me." Rika revealed as they rounded yet another corner following the tall crossbow wielding teenager.

"I don't see that happening. They will never let us leave this place." Miyuki said, her voice going into a low whisper as they passed by a particular group of men and women sitting in a crowded cubicle.

"I'd like to see them try and keep me here." Rika stated in a cold amusement as she calmly ran a hand over one of her large assortment of weapons. It was true. Rika was decked out from head to toe, something that everyone was able to observe.

With a large sniper rifle slung over her back, a M4 and an MP5 slung across her chest, and two hand guns strapped to her separate legs? It was a wonder that the woman was still walking with a elegant hip swaying stride. She was carrying far more than she was, with just a spear, and even she was walking a bit offset.

Miyuki smiled at the grave mental image of anyone attempting to stop Rika with the amount of fire power she was carrying. The mental image often ended with the men looking more disfigured than the dead walking around on the lower floors.

"Perhaps you are right. Although there is no way Jin would leave without his mother, and I honestly doubt he would leave without Naruto either. Frankly for that matter... I honestly doubt I would leave without the blonde." Miyuki muttered at the end as if she was tasting her own words.

Rika furrowed her brow at the mention of the young teen, "You both show an awful lot of loyalty to that unconscious boy in there."

"He kind of saved my life." Miyuki admitted slowly and a bit reluctantly. "And there is... something wrong with him. I have no idea what it is, but it is just... _wrong_." she quickly added on as she allowed her mouth to keep up with her mind.

"_Wrong?_" Rika repeated trying to make sense of the situation. She undoubtedly understood loyalty. Yet that was loyalty built over years and years of training and trust. Not a couple of days out in the world, a messed up world, but a world none the less.

"I'm going to check the last floor!" Jin called out from down the hall before Miyuki could respond as he stepped into an Elevator only to go up a single floor.

Miyuki looked around as she chose her moment to speak carefully. She watched ahead as Jin stepped into the elevator, and having no interest in waiting for both Rika and herself to catch up to him.

Miyuki pressed the "up" button several times as she turned to make eye contact with Rika who was still patiently waiting for an answer.

"In here." Miyuki muttered as she gestured with her head to another elevator door that had recently opened.

There was a deathly silence between the female duo as they waited patiently for the elevator doors to slide closed.

"So?" Rika questioned quietly as Miyuki pressed the button to take them up a final floor.

Miyuki took a deep breath as she spared the purple haired woman a glance before she tightened her jaw. "It's going to sound ridiculous." she muttered distastefully as the Elevator began to move.

"I don't think things can get much more ridiculous than they are now." Rika commented as she stood at ease with her head hung high but her eyes appearing far off and lost.

Miyuki scoffed quietly to herself before she asked in a low voice, "_Do you believe in God?_"

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"Leave us." Kagura said coldly to her two armed brutish guards as she observed the prone form of the blonde haired teen on the bed beside her. They didn't dare oppose her, despite their great difference in size and appearance.

Kagura was a young woman with a unique look to her. She wasn't the most beautiful, nor was she the most intelligent looking individual. She appeared to be in her mid twenties despite having a youthful face. Her dark brown hair was fashioned in a pony tail which served to keep her hair out of her face, framing it with two bangs. The absence of hair in her face, and fair skin served to accentuate a dark red scar she had going down between her eyes and across the bridge of her nose.

"I know you can hear me." Kagura whispered into Naruto's ear as she sat herself down on the bed the blonde shinobi was laying on. "Medically induced paralysis." She stated as she used her fingers to open the blonde's eyes for him.

Naruto's eyes shifted over toward the brown haired woman, despite the fact that he could not move his body.

"It is too bad that we are forced to meet under these circumstances..." she paused as she closed her eyes scanning her memory, "Naruto correct?" she asked rhetorically, knowing full and well the blonde couldn't respond. "Let me tell you a story Naruto." Kagura said softly as she ran her hand through the blonde's hair.

"A long time ago there was a little girl and her mother. A mother that she loved so much. Yet this was a mother that had lost a husband to criminals and the corrupt. This mother loved her daughter, but she loved her needles more." Kagura began as she leaned down towards Naruto, locking eyes with him.

"One day, the daughter decides to help her mother. One day she decides to help her get off her drugs, to throw them away so that the mother can get her life back. Yet mommy turns on the daughter. Angrily she gets the kitchen knife to teach her daughter a lesson. To teach her daughter that mommy doesn't need any help. She lashes out at her daughter... literally." Kagura said as she lifted her head allowing her scarred face to become more visible in the light.

"Needless to say the daughter stopped trying to help mommy. Yet the daughter always hoped. Do you know what happened to the mother?" Kagura asked as she stared down at Naruto.

"The mother died, killing herself on the drugs that her daughter tried to throw away." Kagura stated coldly, as if the emotion that used to be behind those words had long since faded. "That little girl was me. Do you know what I realized as I had to bury my own mother?" Kagura asked pointedly.

"That people want to be ruled, that they crave it. Whether it be laws, drugs, leaders? That things like freedom? Peace? These things are all a lie. These ideals are merely things that people strive towards so that they will fall and stumble in this scramble for unobtainable goals." Kagura preached.

"From that day forward, I knew that I could not let people lead themselves astray. They simply do not know what is best for them. Their freedom is what gets them into trouble. So... I took away their freedom. And now, everyone is safe... which brings me to you." She finished slowly as she stood up beside Naruto's bed.

"You see? I don't know what you did to young Miyuki when you met out there in the city. Yet you seem to be the born leader. You give them a goal to strive towards, and they will chase after it stumbling and falling all the while. You give those two children hope, and hope..." Kagura paused as she distastefully added, "Hope is a cancer. I simply cannot allow your presence to unravel everything I have built here. I'm sorry." Kagura said, seemingly with genuine remorse.

"Weak foundations if merely my presence unravels everything you've established."

Kagura's eyes snapped open wider as she looked over Naruto's form. "I'm surprised you can still talk while under the medication." she said in a deal of surprise, ignoring the blonde's statement. "For that, I'm sorry."

Kagura then gestured with a wave of her hand to the door. "This would have otherwise been painless."

Two large guards walked in with one of the walking dead, gagged and in shackles.

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"God?" Rika snorted as she stared incredulously at the girl before rolling her eyes a pressing the 'Door Open' button. "And here I thought you were at least relatively sane, unlike the rest of these sheep." she stated a tad bitterly as the sliding metal doors moved open. "If you honestly think that boy you saved is a god then you have seriou-"

"Look, I told you it sounded ridiculous, but hear me out for a second okay?" Miyuki said in frustration, as she was expecting the reaction, but it didn't make it any easier to deal with.

Rika huffed lightly as she continued to trail along, partially listening to the younger girl as she scanned down the various halls for wherever Jin had run off to.

"That guy... earlier today, he was injured or passed out or something like that. I tried to approach him so that I could help him, and there was a magical glowing barrier that surrounded him. I couldn't pass through it no matter how hard I tried. Honestly how many people does that happen to?" Miyuki said in amazement thinking back to her earlier encounter with the blnode.

"No one." Rika said in her own sour amusement, "That is _why_ it sounds ridiculous." she revealed as she cut down a corner while maintaining her pace. "It's not possible." she muttered as she clutched at the weapon in her hands.

Miyuki didn't bother to hold back her condescending laugh, "Not possible? Like how the dead come back to life to eat people was completely possible. I don't understand how you are looking at me like I'm a crazy person after everything you have seen." Miyuki proclaimed in frustration.

Rika's silence as she walked along the dark halls of the upper floor was deafening, and all the answer Miyuki needed. Yet the silence didn't last, as in that instant two very distinct things happened that shook the foundations of everything they stood upon.

"She's not here!" Jin's cry rang throughout the entire floor followed by a large crash. Yet even this crash was drowned out by the vibration that shook the building as if a train had crashed into it.

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"Kohta, are you alright?" Rei asked as she pulled herself onto the roof of the hummer, the roaring wind serving to drown out the majority of her voice, and keeping their conversation private despite the people below.

"Of course Miyamoto-san. Just hoping that we find a spot to rest soon." Kohta responded evenly as he looked out into the night, with his weapon of choice resting firmly in his hands.

Rei gave a weak smile as she saw through the shorter boy, but she opted to not voice it. "I agree. After tonight... I can't help but wonder if we made the right choice leaving Rika-san's home."

Kohta's gaze darkened as he thought back to the events that had taken mere hours before. "Yeah well... the leader made the decision." Kohta stated coldly his eyes focused before him despite his grip tightening on his weapon.

Rei gave a heavy sigh at that note. "Takashi our leader..." she muttered with a shake of the head. "How did that happen?" she wondered outloud.

"Miyamoto-san." Kohta began attempting to gain the girl's attention.

Rei looked up with a raised eyebrow, that prompted the weapon's expert to continue.

"What is so special about Takashi, or even Jin... or Naruto?" Kohta asked with a frown that he did his best to hide in the darkness of the night.

"What do you mean special about them?" Rei questioned curiously. She didn't quite understand what the boy was going for.

"You know what, never mind, forget I asked." Kohta said in frustration. He didn't want to go into detail on the subject. He was hoping that he could just get the most basic of answers. To figure out what _they_ had that _he_ didn't.

"Kohta, there is nothing anymore special about them than there is about you." Rei said before she bit her tongue to not add on the very true, _'Except for Naruto...'_ comment that she wanted to add.

"Now why do I have a hard time believing that? All through school, Jin and Takashi had huge groups of friends, girls would chase after them, and even you... were center of their attention." Kohta said bitterly. "Then Naruto... I could never be like him..." he said thinking back to the blonde throwing another boy out the window, effectively hanging him with a bed sheet.

Rei sighed as she realized what the short boy was feeling. "It's complicated." Rei reluctantly admitted as she thought of the two boys that she went to school with.

Kohta snorted a laugh, "Yeah, it's always complicated." he said bitterly as he allowed his mind to wander to memories he had once tried to bury.

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"_It's complicated." the girl said as she stood before Kohta, as they took a moment to talk after class._

"_What do you mean it's complicated? I like you, and I know you like me Kokoro. How is it complicated? This should be simple." Kohta said with a frown coming onto his features._

"_Kohta, I have a lot going on in my life right now... and really. I don't do relationships." Kokoro, the young cute brunette girl said as she ran a hand through her hair, a weak smile on her face._

_Kohta shook his head, "That's bullshit... and you know the worst part? You know its bullshit too Kokoro. I've known you for... forever, I thought you would at least be honest with me."_

"_But Kohta, I am being honest! You're right. I do like you Kohta. However I'm just not ready. I'm not ready to go into a relationship with someone like that." Kokoro tried to explain, trying to save face._

_Kohta frowned as he took in her words, "So... it isn't that you don't want to, it is just that you aren't ready for a relationship?" Kohta asked trying to make adequate sense of the young woman._

_Kokoro nodded her head quickly, "Exactly. Kohta, I like you. I really do. It's just... I'm not ready for a relationship."_

_Kohta sighed and took a deep breath before returning a nod, "Alright, I understand." he said with a weak smile._

"_Great!" Kokoro cried in joy as she quickly moved in and gave her long time friend a hug._

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"What do you mean it's _always_ complicated?" Rei asked curiously, seeing the look on Kohta's face gradually change. She knew there was far more to what he had let on.

Kohta lightened his hands around his weapon as he looked off into the dark of the night. "Nothing." he said with a sigh before he looked down into the car toward a prone, injured high school teacher. Although before anything could be said?

Everything changed.

"Everyone! We have company!" Yuuki's voice yelled throughout the car, and over the radio, piercing through the night.

It was at that moment a giant explosion erupted, coating the sky in fire.

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"This building is falling apart! We need to get out of here now!" Rika yelled while she ran alongside Miyuki as the building's very foundations shook at it's core, and began to tilt in this and that direction.

Miyuki panting heavily and stumbling as she ran, diving under a rolling cubicle before rolling into a crouch. "Jin!" she screeched out at the top of her lungs as her fingers clutching around her spear and digging into the carpeted floor as the building slowly began to tilt.

Jin however was barely paying attention as he had since collapsed to the floor on his hands and knees, his eyes hallow as he gazed at the floor beneath him.

Rika continued running toward the collapsed teen, "On your feet, we need to keep moving!" she yelled, as she vaulted over a large table that had quickly begun to slide towards the opposite side of the top floor.

She quickly crouched down as she ran, and ripped as one of the numerous ethernet cables that ran along the floor from all of the fallen hardware. Twisting and turning, she was forced to dodge past people quickly as the barrelled for the elevators and the stairs. Sadly, both of which were terrible options given their current location.

"Jin!" Miyuki yelled once again as she got closer to tall teenager only to be forced to collapse to the ground to roll away from an oncoming shelf. Being in the building was like being in a boat on the harsh sea.

Miyuki crawled over on her hands and knees toward Jin, reaching him in a timely, yet uncomfortable manner from her position on the floor. "Jin..." Miyuki panted out with a heavy breath as she reached out and touched the young teen's hand's that were dug into the carpet, the only sense of life in there was the hold he maintained on his bows in the chaos.

"She's not here." he muttered, a shadow cast over his face. Although you could hear the pain in his voice. The disbelief his voice held hurt the emerald eyed girl beside him despite her earlier warning.

"Jin, I know, I know." she said quickly as she tightened her grip on the young teen, before shaking his arm, "But there is nothing we can do about that now. We need to go." Miyuki said as she gripped the bow wielding teen.

"Miyuki! Your spear!" Rika yelled out from a few meters away. She was busy in the act of ripping up one of the floorboards under the carpet, yanking out the ends of ethernet cables resting in their jacks.

"What?" Miyuki asked wide eyed at the fierceness in Rika's tone, particularly given her confusing actions.

"Now!" the purple haired soldier snapped angrily as she began whipping the cables around as they quickly began to twist.

Miyuki flinched under the woman's gaze, and quickly spun her makeshift spear in her hand, giving the woman the safer end up weapon.

"Come on." Rika said quickly as she rushed off into the nearest open office.

Miyuki helped the shaken Jin onto his feet, being mindful to grab his crossbow to ensure that he wouldn't end up leaving it behind. She was following Rika to the best of her ability. Although she would only later admit to questioning the woman's sanity at the sight before her.

Rika had picked up the office chair from behind the desk. It was at this point that with a rapid speed, she withdrew her sidearm with her free hand, and let loose a bullet straight through the window. This action was shortly followed by the large wooden chair flying through the window as if chasing the bullet, causing the entire window to fall in tiny shards of glass.

"Get that end." Rika ordered as she motioned to one end of large wooden desk as she moved over to the other.

Miyuki set the larger teen down, leaning him in his shocked state against the office wall, before she positioned herself opposite on Rika.

"Alright - Flip!" Rika ordered without warning and without wait as she heaved the large wooden desk onto it's side.

"What are we doing? We need to get out of here!" Miyuki said loudly trying to make sense of the woman's actions, as her mind was clearly working overtime.

"What do you think I'm doing? How do you plan to get out of here? The elevator in a collapsing building? The stairwell full of zombies?" Rika quickly bit out as she took the collection of cables, and looped it through the thickest part of the desk that laid on it's side, before tying them off.

"So you choose to jump out of the top story of the largest building in town?" Miyuki nearly yelled in disbelief as she moved over to the window where Rika had relocated to briefly.

"Hopefully we wont be jumping far." Rika said as she looked over the side at the same time as Miyuki, taking in the sight of a window washer's platform, three to four stories below.

Miyuki gulped briefly in fear as she looked between both Jin and Rika. Although she wasn't allowed to dwell on the idea for long as the building went through another quaking movement. Yet that didn't stop her from asking the question that plagued her mind.

"Rika, this isn't an earthquake... what is this?" Miyuki asked in a bit of fear.

Rika tightened her lips as she took pause in her action breaking open a painting on the wall, and using the parchment as a protective mat from the remaining glass on the window sill. "I don't know..." Rika admitted slowly as she began to funnel the line of cables out the window.

"An act of _god_ maybe?" Miyuki said pointedly towards the purple headed woman.

Rika frowned as she allowed that statement to linger in silence.

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"Who are you?" Kagura spat out to the figure hidden in the dark from her position against a large window that would have formerly overlooked quite a beautiful city. Yet now as her own blood began to pool where she was seated, the window behind her covered in blood splatters.

The blonde shinobi stepped out of the darkness, his body encased in a flaming energy. The suffocating pressure of his mere presence was causing paint and plaster to peal from the walls. Windows began to crack in his presence rapidly, hairline fractures quickly collecting behind the corrupt leader.

"It doesn't matter who I am." Naruto said in a low tone, his voice full of distinct power as it filled every corner of the room. "What matters... is _what_." Naruto said as he fully came into the light.

Kagura to her credit maintained a strong face, even though her eyes showed her fear. A rabid bite that was located on the blonde's neck was beginning to stitch itself back together before her very eyes. Sickly black puss seeping out of the wound before being burned off his body by the unfathomable energy that was being produced, shaking the very foundations of the building as infrastructure began to twist and warp. "What do you mean what?" she attempted to ask harshly, but her shaky voice preventing her from doing so as she applied pressure to her wound.

"Precisely what I said." the blonde voiced, "It is not about the who... but about the what. Where I come from, I was a warrior." The blonde said as he spiraled eyes glowed with energy and power. The large metallic shackle on his wrist, slowly crumbling to tiny pieces like ash.

"Was?" Kagura asked with a snort, before hacking up a good portion of blood which she did her best to spit to her side. "There is nothing special about you. You think you can lead these people? You can't. It doesn't matter who or what you are. So tell me genius? What are you now blondie?" the woman taunted off in the face of death.

Naruto took a grand look out the window behind the woman, the expansive view of the world he found himself in. The tall buildings that resembled nothing of a time he was from. The large metallic objects used for transportation. The complete and utter lack of any visible signs of chakra.

He looked down to his wrist as he watched the last piece of the shackle that had been holding him down to mortal capabilities fall away into dust in the wind as if it never existed in the first place. He could feel his powers that he had formerly lost come back to him at full force.

"Out here?" The blonde said out loud as he looked down to his hand that had formerly been chained down to reality before he lifted it up, a flat palm toward the direction on the woman. "I'm god." the blonde said as the window completely shattered, launching the woman from the building barreling into the city below. The entire hallway ripped to shreds from the sheer force of the power.

Naruto closed his eyes as he shifted his hand downward.

"Are you sure?" a female voice called out to the blonde from behind him, with a sudden clarity that had formerly been absent.

The blonde turned his head to look over his shoulder, catching sight of the equally blonde haired beauty, her eyes penetrating back directly through him.

"There is nothing left here. Nothing except pain... and tragedy." the blonde said as he closed his eyes, feeling the emotions of every suffering soul in the building.

"And what of your friends? Climbing down the side of the building? Are you willing to lose them too?" the blonde woman from Naruto's past asked.

The blonde's conviction faltered for a moment as he thought toward Jin and Miyuki both. His promise to Ayane's sister. His obligations to their group. His friendship with Rei...

"Get them out of here." the blonde said coldly, as he took a deep breath, closing his eyes for merely a moment.

By the time he opened them, the blonde was gone.

Naruto turned back towards the window to overlook the city one last time, before his eyes wandered to the sky. The rising sun, and the cloudless sky. The blonde shinobi general cupped put his hands loosely together, and whispered two words he at one point hoped he would never have to whisper.

"_Chibaku Tensei."_

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****Naturally this chapter was a long time coming. And through the course of getting 2-3 different jobs while attempting to write this story. It has been slow moving. That said? I finally delivered the chapter. Although it did not come without a cost. I ended up cutting a lot from this arc of the story simply because I had to keep taking breaks between when I could sit down and actually write. And I felt that if I kept trying to continue with my original ideas? The continuity of the story would have been compromised, not just in this chapter/arc, but also in coming chapters due to me making mistakes here and now.

So as mentioned above, I said that I was going to outline what I originally wanted to showcase in this arc, but really wasn't able to.

x

**What I wanted to accomplish? I feel that I did.**

I wanted to finally take off Naruto's shackle. I felt that it is important for pretty much any crossover story with a main hero that is so "Super" like this, it is important for him to experience humanity. He won't necessarily fit in with it, as the character may not strictly be human or that weak. However it is through the experience that you can have your hero develop a realistic empathy for the situation at hand. A good example of this would be Thor. A god comes to Earth, doesn't fit in, but sees the terrors and decides to help only after experiencing earth through mortal eyes.

Another thing that I was glad that I accomplished was Jin's initial story. When I originally started writing this story, I was writing the supporting characters similar to how the Mass Effect characters (in ME2) were done. Recruiting them. Their initial mission. Then eventually their loyalty mission. This is a mindset that is going to follow many of the characters. I feel it adequately introduces and allows you to get used to each and every character, while at the same time not taking away from the main hero that is doing a lot of the problem solving for their team. (Main heroes here being both Takashi and Naruto.)

Similarly, I introduced Miyuki, a character I originally planned to kill off at the end here. However I felt that every girl in the HOTD universe is such a strong know it all type character. While they may not be as blatant as Saya? There is no one that is really a follower. That is capable, but refuses to step up to the plate and lead. I felt she filled a very real role that was formerly not present in the story, so I kept her.

**Now my regrets...**

Rika, you get to see her here and there throughout the arc, and then she just pretty much shows up in the thick of it all. This was actually going to originally be addressed in this big rescue mission. I won't go into details, because I plan to address it later. However originally Naruto was never going to fall unconscious, and need Miyuki and Jin's help. Originally they were going to make it to the tower, the three of them, and then stumble upon Rika in need of assistance.

Kagura, if there was ever a moment that I felt I handled a character poorly? It was Kagura. You cannot believe the amount of corrupt leader esque qualities I had lined up for her. I had planned for her to be shown slowly but surely sacrificing/getting rid of women, because she enjoyed having the men to herself. To be highly sexual and having the men wrapped around her fingers, and sleeping with other women's husbands. She was slated originally to be a woman that would initially capture Naruto's interests actually due to her strong firm ruling hand. And you would then gradually get to see just how messed up the situation at the tower truly was.

For example. Note how I mentioned the stairwell full of zombies? That stairwell was originally empty, until Kagura was running low on supplies, and locked off a middle floor with zombies, promptly damning everyone on the middle floor and below. However these were things I never really got to show with her, as I wanted to wrap the arc up and it would have just taken too long.

I had initially hoped to be able to establish a greater connection with all of you during the search for Jin's mother. However I then realized that the only way I would have really been able to do that would have been by having Naruto present during the search. Although that was out of the question due to me rushing the arc.

Finally Kohta. I left everyone with a pretty huge cliffhanger not that long ago with Kohta having a gun. Yet here I don't even address it the next time you see him. The problem for me was that once I got back to him, I didn't really have a way to address it while on the road. It gave me an excuse to start developing his character a bit earlier than intended, and to give you some insight into his character. But it is a bit of a shame.

**Anyways...**

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Personally I wasn't a big fan of it, nor the conclusion. It is just one of those cases where you end up feeling "Wow this could have been great... but it was just alright."

I'd love to hear what you all think about it though. So leave a review, tell me your thoughts and opinions. Hopefully now I can get the ball rolling once again.

**Preview**

"So you think you are God hmm?" A fiery red headed vixen taunted in amusement, as she crouched down next to her blonde companion amidst the smoke, ash, and rubble in the darkness of the moon.

The blonde shinobi looked up towards the red headed woman for the first time, his bleeding arms hanging at his sides. "God doesn't bleed." the blonde replied coldly as he forced himself up off of the ruined ground.


	17. God Doesn't Bleed

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto of Highschool of the Dead

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"_I wanted to believe that after we decided to work together, when we agreed to help each other? I saw her... how she was with our people, with everyone around her. I thought that after all this time... I wanted to believe that we were the same." Naruto said remorsefully as he hung his head, turning away from the wake of fiery destruction laid out miles below him._

"_In some ways you are." the purple haired Anbu captain said with a small smile that was invisible from behind her mask. Her eyes scanning out over the skyline from their location high in the sky._

"_No." the blonde said firmly with the shake of a head, "I'll never be like her. We'll never be the same."_

Naruto sighed heavily as he recalled the vivid memory of the past, as he hung his head in the shadow of the growing moon.

"So you think you are God hmm?" A fiery red headed vixen taunted in amusement, as she crouched down next to her blonde companion amidst the smoke, ash, and rubble in the darkness of the moon.

The blonde shinobi looked up towards the red headed woman for the first time, his bleeding arms hanging at his sides. "God doesn't bleed." the blonde replied coldly as he forced himself up off of the ruined ground.

Pieces of rubble had long since began floating into the sky, gravity no longer holding them down to earth. The sky was raining flesh and blood, pooling under the moon the was slowly but surely forming from tall skyscrapers coiling together like snakes to their prey.

A river of blood and flesh had formed, slowly moving in a stream, beginning to fill the bottom of the pit.

"Here, let me help." the woman in red said as she stepped up to the blonde before grasping his hand between hers.

"Don't!" Naruto bit out through his teeth as he yanked his hand away, "Please don't." he repeated in a low tone as he allowed his arms to hand at his sides, drops of blood slowly falling like rain from his fingertips.

Naruto looked on towards the forging moon, all the while ignoring the angered growl from the woman beside him.

"Why? You're going to kill yourself one of these days Naruto, I'm not going to be a part of it." the woman ground out angrily.

Naruto looked down to the ruins beneath his feet to pick up a single metal shard no more than six inches long and thick. It was undoubtedly one of the many remains of his shackle. "Not anymore Kyuubi." Naruto said calmly as he opened his palm, the metal shard slowly beginning to float upward to join the forming moon.

"On the other hand, he will have me." a voice called out with a confidence as she grew closer to the duo.

Naruto turned over his shoulder to look towards the blonde haired female's ghostly figure, standing there floating several inches off the ground.

"If you value what you have remaining of your mediocre existence, I suggest you leave us now." Kyuubi said coldly, not even bothering to turn around as she spoke. Her fiery hair flowing as if it was alive like flames. Her entire feminine body was shrouded in a thick red coat of energy, doing little to conceal her beauty and most private places.

The blonde haired female apparition gave a cautious glance towards the woman in red.

"Are they safe?" Naruto asked the blonde woman, not before giving Kyuubi a pointed look.

"You can't honestly expect me to believe you actually care for these people, and have any form of loyalty to them." Kyuubi spat out in disgust as she turned around to face both Naruto and the blonde haired woman.

Naruto didn't bother to spare Kyuubi even a glance at her statement as he spoke out, "I don't expect you to understand Kyuubi, as you have no concept of duty, no sense of loyalty."

Kyuubi's burning gaze turned upon the blonde, "Don't presume I have no sense of loyalty simply because I have no one left to be loyal to." she said in a low tone that was heard over the chaos that surrounded them.

Naruto visible faltered at the statement as he cast a sidelong glance toward the woman that had been with him his entire life before doing his best to hide the grimace at the thought of losing her.

"They're safe." the blonde youthful looking woman said as she appraised the two powerful warriors before her.

Naruto nodded his head as he closed his eyes, "Alright." he said before giving a deep breath as two clones immediately popped into existence. "Go get them."

The two clones immediately jumped out of sight in true shinobi fashion once again leaving Naruto, Kyuubi, and the ghostly woman.

"Leave us..." Naruto said tightly as he spared the blonde a glance before turning to Kyuubi.

She didn't need to be told twice.

"Tell me now." Kyuubi began painfully the moment the blonde woman left them alone. "Tell me how you can just sit here and do nothing? You needed to get home... yesterday!" Kyuubi said with narrowed eyes.

Naruto gave a deep breath as the moon continued to float higher and higher into the sky, "I know."

"Really? I don't think you do. We're at war. Now while a bunch of little mortal men initially wanted to write that idea off and never admit that was a possibility? That time has come to an end. And with the way things are going?" Kyuubi gave a pause as she allowed her words to take hold.

"With all of the rest of _us..._ gone? You are all that stands for the survival against the greatest threat the Elemental Nations have ever encountered. Yet here you are... babysitting." Kyuubi mocked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Naruto closed his eyes tightly, "I don't need the lecture now Kyuubi. Not today."

"Or perhaps this is the day you need to hear this more now than ever." Kyuubi fired back calmly, "Perhaps you are taking this adventure on your hands too seriously. You know what I think? I think you are getting too accustomed to this life. Too invested. After seeing those pictures on the wall? The way these kids treat each other? You believe that maybe... just maybe you could have a chance at a normal life."

"That's not it at all." Naruto said with a scowl as he turned to face the red headed woman, his eyes narrowed.

"Good." she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Because you can't have that life."

Naruto flinched at the bluntness of her words, even if it was a concept that he silently knew himself yet never wanted to address.

"Ever since you became not just _their_ leader, but the general of the shinobi nations, you made a commitment. One to endure. You need to make a choice that no one else can make." Kyuubi said calmly as she admired the red river beginning to form a pool at the bottom of the pit.

"And what choice would that be? Would you have me condemn everyone here? People that risked their lives to protect me? You would just have me abandon them? What would you do?" Naruto asked.

"Abandon them? You want to know why throughout your entire life, people have risked their lives for you? You're not just anyone Naruto, the day will come where you will need to make a choice. Whether that be protecting the shinobi world, or saving the meager lives of the people here. I don't care what choice you make, I've known you for your entire life, I know you will make the right choice..." Kyuubi paused as she sensed a presence returning behind the two of them.

"And yet you never told me what you would do in my situation." Naruto said calmly, turning towards the oncoming presence.

"I'd kill them all." Kyuubi said bluntly, causing Naruto to halt his thoughts momentarily. "This life is no different than our own. No one deserves to live like this."

Naruto fought down a frown in the face of the beautiful demon. "So you would just kill everyone... you wouldn't even attempt to save them?" Naruto asked, masking his disappointment the best he could.

"I'm not like you. War changed you, turned you into a coward." Kyuubi began.

"What?" Naruto asked incredulously. People usually spoke to him with more respect.

"You need to know everything and be in control of the situation because you're afraid to be wrong, afraid of failure. You have been alone your entire life, and you're so afraid of losing people, so afraid of not being able to protect everyone that you will risk your own life. Yet deep down you know that when you run out of people you need to protect, you'll just run out of purpose. You'll run out of hope. You've turned yourself into a Martyr." Kyuubi said pointedly, her words like blades trying their best to cut deep.

"We Naruto... are nothing alike. I learned long ago that not everyone can be saved." Kyuubi said, her crimson gaze falling upon 'The Eyes of God' before she turned to move towards the oncoming presence.

Naruto pursed his lips at the back of the one person in the world that would ever attempt to speak to him in such a manner before giving a sigh and shaking his head. Naruto looked up to the moon, now fully formed hovering high in the sky, red rain continuing to fall. It was only in this moment that Naruto allowed his mind to temporarily wander to the subject of the red headed vixen.

"_No Naruto... you won't ever be the same." Yugao confirmed before shaking her head. "But Naruto..." she began, "I at one point believed that perhaps similarly to the Kazekage, you may one day be separated from the Kyuubi. That one day you may be free of her."_

"_And now?" Naruto questioned as his thoughts drifted toward the red headed goddess._

"_Now I fear that your paths are now joined forever." Yugao said with a heavy heart, "Do you remember your jinchuriki training Naruto?"_

_Naruto said nothing, but the small nod of the head prompted the purple haired woman to continue her explanation. However before she could explain, the Angel of Ame cut in from her position leaning against the wall off to the side, overlooking the burning world below._

"_She is the darkness to your light, the hatred to your love."_

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"Oh... my god..." Saya breathed out in amazement as she looked on the sight in the distance floating high into the sky.

"What the hell is that?" Yuuki cursed out as she ceased her rummaging through compartments of the boat to take in the sights in the sky.

"It's a moon." Kohta said simply as he lowered the rifle's scope from his eye, slightly disturbed. "It's made out of buildings... but something is leaking out of it." he said in a grim voice. Although the enthusiasm he formerly held while using his weapons had long since faded as he looked on with a frown.

"That's ridiculous, give me that!" Saya proclaimed loudly as she pushed up her glasses before stomped over, lining herself up with the weapon's scope, a weapon that was still slung around Kohta's neck.

Kohta however pursed his lips at the action, and the considerable view. A situation that he formerly would have loved seemed to have lost all of it's pleasure as he thought back to the nights encounter previously.

The young boy allowed his mind to wander while hopefully not allowing his pain to show. He knew he would never speak up about his problems. Secretly deep down he felt that if he ever spoke up, that he would be complaining. There is nothing he can say if his crush has a crush on someone else.

It was that fact that was painful to admit for the young boy.

He knew he shouldn't have said it, but he couldn't hold himself back from doing so. "Can't take me at my word?" Kohta said bitterly, the cold tone not lost amongst the group.

"Not now Kohta!" Yuuki said quickly, her eyes locking with Kohta, an unspoken conversation being told within them.

"What is your problem tubby?" Saya taunted with her usual name calling.

Kohta seemed to shrink under Yuuki's gaze as Saya's insult flew past him. "Nothing..." he muttered as he gently shrugged his shoulders as the pinked headed girl let go of his weapon with minimal care, not something a person who had utilized a firearm before would have done.

Kohta however did catch sight of Yuuki giving the young firearms expert a nod of respect to finish their unspoken conversation.

"Do you think Takashi and Busujima-san are seeing this?" Saya said as she held onto the side of the boat as she took in the sight of the large moon growing higher and higher into the air.

Kohta said nothing as he honestly had no answer. Although the fact that the pink haired girl had notably ignored the fact that Rei had gone along with their group's strongest close range fighters served to sour his expression.

It was hairline fractures, threatening to spread throughout Kohta's entire expression. The glue holding him together was merely Yuuki's silent shaking of the head pleading with him to keep himself together.

"Doesn't matter. We will find out soon." Yuuki quipped as she pulled herself up a ladder to where Ayane was doing her best to captain the boat with Saito's instruction. "Saya, make yourself useful, and actually find things we can use instead of gazing at things you can't explain." Yuuki finished without hesitation from the top of the ladder.

Saya instantly rounded on the older girl and tightened her jaw, her fists clenching in anger.

"In survival situations, you are only supposed to take what you need to survive. However we are surviving as a group are we not? Extra hands to carry things. Find something useful." she repeated seeing the girl's eyes narrow in frustration.

"If the task is so important Yuuki-san, why don't you assist me?" Saya retorted ironically not liking being ordered around in the slightest by Yuuki, despite her tendency to give orders.

"Yuuki-san! Please take the wheel. This isn't like a car!" Shizuka cried overhead as the boat immediately began to lean to one side dramatically.

"Because the dead are coming back to life and killing people!" Yuuki yelled as her face disappeared from view. "I'll be damned if I go down on a ship!" she continued. Her voice quieter but filled with annoyance as the ship straightened out once again, "And this is the helm Shizuka-san."

Saya scowled as she looked down to her feet, her hands clenched. It was only then that she looked around to where she could look for something before catching sight of the brown haired boy. "What are you looking at Tubby?" Saya taunted again, her frustration being taken out on the boy once again.

"Kohta! You should get up here! There is a better view from this vantage point." Saito called down loudly.

It was only moments later that the young pink haired girl found herself alone with nothing but the sound of crashing waves and distant sirens to keep her company.

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"It's barely getting light out, it's still too dark to see anything clearly. We will be sitting ducks if we journey far from the vehicle at this time." Saeko said quietly, although you could see that the exhaustion was beginning to show on her face. Although a darkness under the eyes was certainly not the most attractively look, it didn't take away from any of her beauty.

"I still don't see why you volunteered to come. You're insane. You haven't slept. Did you even eat with the group Saeko-san? You're dead on your feet." Takashi said quickly to Saeko as he looked at her seated behind him in the rear view mirror of the vehicle.

"Spare me _Komuro-kun_." she said making a point of using his last name. "Naruto chose to do no different when he lead this group. I will rest when our group is safe, until then? I'm going to keep fighting."

"You're not Naruto though Busujima-san..." Rei said quietly, her words causing her to think about the blonde haired blue eyed boy... no... man.

Takashi frowned to himself as he caught Rei losing herself deep in thought at the mere mention of the blonde. "I agree Saeko, you need your rest."

Saeko's eyes narrowed as she inclined her head confusion while she looked between both parties in the front seats. "You both speak of Naruto like he is some hero or god or something. What is so special about him? Tell me, what do you think he can do that I can't?" Saeko asked defensively, her tired appearance seemingly disappearing in her defense.

A collective silence threatened to swallow the group whole. Rei turned away from the girl as she immediately was brought back to the blonde carrying her as he jumped buildings with ease, and moved faster than she could even see to kill someone... to protect her.

Rei took a deep breath, her chest felt tight at that thought. _'What if something happened to him?'_ she thought fearfully as she squeezed her eyes shut. The action only served to remind her of the form fitting black gear she was wearing that wasn't even her own, but was a soldier's from the blonde's other world.

Takashi's lips formed into a thin line as he equally went into thought on the blonde. Yet his thought was simple. '_No one is that brutal... fearless... and skilled...'_ he thought to himself as he remembered vividly the hardened fist that had struck him that night, before he blonde proceeded to run them across the heads of a sea of undead. He wasn't slighting Saeko. He just didn't think anyone else could do it. He doubted anyone would ever consider being that reckless.

"It's complicated Busujima-san." Rei said with a frown. There was no way she could begin to explain why it was complicated. She just hoped that the swordswoman would take her word for it.

"Complicated?" Saeko repeated lowly in irritation as she turned to Takashi, as if prompting him to give her a better answer.

"It's hard to explain Saeko." Takashi muttered, not wanting to mention the night he had run into danger half cocked and needed to be saved by the blonde that everyone seemed so willing to ostracize.

Saeko allowed a scowl to come onto her beautiful features. "Complicated? Hard to explain? It has always been this way between you and him Miyamoto, so I'm not surprised. Yet you Takashi? I expected you to be honest w-"

"What do you mean _'it has always been this way'_?" Rei questioned with narrowed eyes. Although her question was drowned out by Takashi's louder voice.

"Saeko it isn't like that!" Takashi quickly replied, halting on the breaks in the car.

"Then tell me _Komuro_, what is it like?" Saeko said bitterly, the rare face of anger in place on her lovely features.

Silence once again fell upon the group which only caused Saeko to shake her head.

"I thought as much." she said bitterly before she kicked open the door beside her, grabbing her wooden blade. "I appreciate you both trying to look out for me. But I don't need your protection. I'm going to scout out the area and kill any of _them_ I see. You both should go back, and meet the group. They should be here any minute."

"Saeko wait!" Takashi called out the window as she closed the door and began walking away. "I'll come with you!" he said as he quickly began unbuckling his seat belt.

"No!" Saeko replied as she looked over her shoulder to the duo in the vehicle. "Right now... I don't want your company _Komuro_." Saeko said, standing up tall and tightening her grip on her wooden blade.

"No! Saeko! You're not going alone." Takashi said despite the fact.

Saeko shook her head at that, "I'm better off alone Takashi." she finished lowly. She didn't care if the brown haired teen heard her or not as she moved to leave their sight.

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A boat moving at rapid speeds crashed repeatedly on the water as it leaped over every wave. The sun was rising in the distance, reflecting across the water. Yet they remained in the shade of an object soaring into the skies that didn't belong.

The boat was small and expensive. It was built for speed. It likely would have caused quite the commotion moving at these speeds under the countless bridges in the city they were in. Yet at this point in the silence of the day, the blonde haired blue eyed man at the helm could care less.

"So what... are you..." the purple haired trident asked in a low tone, seated beside the blonde, not keeping her eyes off him for anything.

"It doesn't matter who or what I am." Naruto said simply without taking his eyes off from in front of him. Although that didn't stop him from sensing the world around him. Notably the red headed woman sitting on the edge of the boat, her feet skimming the water as it rushed along. Or the blonde haired apparition that would occasionally fade in and out of existence. He could even distantly feel Ayane's energy swelling in a sea of darkness, steadily approaching as he grew closer.

"Miyuki seems to think you're some sort of god. I thought she was crazy and that you were just a man, but with what I've seen? I can't say that she was far off." Rika said tensely, holding her weapons close to her.

"There are no men like me." Naruto said as he allowed his situation with his powers coursing through him once again to dawn on him. "Not anymore." he finished quietly as he turned the boat toward the direction Ayane's presence was moving.

"You say that like there used to be a whole flock of you running around? I find that hard to believe." Rika said as she inclined her head towards the red headed woman hanging halfway off the boat without a care in the world. Like she had no sense of fear when it came to falling off.

Naruto chose not to answer as he looked forward to the dawn. The opinion of one woman would matter little in the coming days. He now had plans. He was going to reunite with those he swore to protect. And then? He would move on to protect everyone else.

"So what is next in your master plan? I mean you already decided to take control of my body to save a couple kids with your ghostly powers. Next you created a moon out of an entire city district. Don't tell me your next goal is world domination or holding the world hostage for a million dollars." Rika said as she whipped her pinky back and forth at the mention of the cash amount.

"I'm just going to reconnect with my group of idiot children, and hopefully help them find their families. Beyond that, it doesn't matter. I won't be sticking around long." Naruto said with a faraway look.

"If it is really just a group of kids you are going back to? What makes you so sure that they will survive if you don't stick around?" Rika asked with a raised eyebrow.

Naruto's lips formed into a thin line at the question as he was brought back to the memories of Jin, Saeko, Rei, and even Takashi. "Some of them are stronger than people would think. They will be fine."

"People are dying... my partner died. If a highly trained member of the military can't make it? What makes you think children will survive? They can be as strong as you want to think, but they aren't stronger than him." Rika said sourly, picking at the blonde's brain.

"Well anyone can be killed." Naruto replied with a shrug of the shoulders.

"Even you?" Rika asked pointedly as she moved to try and catch the blonde's eyes. The question even served to garner a certain red headed woman's attention from the edge of the boat.

"Anyone." Naruto repeated firmly, without fear of the thought.

"So if I were to... shoot you with my weapon right here..." Rika began slowly, but not moving with the potential threat.

"Just because anyone can be killed does not mean anyone can be killed as easily as someone else." Naruto pointed out as he turned his head from before him to lock eyes with the purple headed woman.

Rika held up her hands in defense. She wasn't trying to start a fight, even if she was intentionally trying to pick at the young man's brain. "So what? Save the kids, and then ditch them to what?"

Naruto said nothing as the silence fell over their conversation, allowing himself the time to weigh his response to the woman.

"What? To make the world a better place?" Rika suggested openly, as she gently leaned back as she crossed her arms over her chest, and promptly crossed her legs. There was almost a mocking condescending tone to the way she made the suggestion that probably would have set off a lesser person.

Naruto abruptly stepped away from the helm, causing it to begin spinning slowing in a direction, leading them on a crash course for the shoreline. An act which only served to cause Rika to spring out of her seat for the helm before she got her reply.

However the damage had been done. A sharp turn at this point would send the group sprawling into the water. And while she doubted it would have any real effect on her or the blonde. She knew that the unconscious forms of both Jin and Miyuki would certainly be worse for ware.

"No." Naruto's voice called out over her shoulder. Upon his shoulder rested Jin. Stacked on top of Jin was Miyuki's form. It actually made the blonde look like some imposing hulk of a figure despite his size being rather unintimidating.

The blonde placed his hand upon Rika's shoulder before gripping down on her firmly as the shore continued to approach closer and closer every fleeting second. As well as a collected group of the dead waiting there to welcome them with open mouths and arms.

"I'm going to make sure that things don't get worse."

It was at that moment that the boat crashed onto the shore, leaving behind a fiery explosion in it's wake.

The passengers were long gone.

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"We're dead... we're going to die here..." Ayane said out loud in a quiet voice that was easily heard by the people surrounding her. In her grasp was none other than the semi-automatic rifle the group was able to liberate from Rika's apartment.

"Ayane! Don't say things like that!" Takashi quickly yelled out as he took aim with the shotgun in his grasp before unleashing a metallic hell upon the dead approaching them.

"She's right. We may have the weapons, but we don't have the ammo to keep this up forever. We are going to tire before they do." Saito said as he had taken to positioning himself down by the hood of the car. "Even if we do survive this, our resources will be useless at that point. We won't survive the night." Saito finished. He was armed with no more than a kitchen knife to complement his lanky form, and was doing well to stay back, only moving in when absolutely necessary.

"Everyone shut up! Think like that, and it will happen. Hold this line. If even one of us falls, we can all fall!" Takashi called out, kicking a zombie back as it approached, prompting it to stumble and tumbling unintentionally tackling a group of it's brethren.

Although meanwhile the young brown haired teenage boy could only curse the events that had led them to where they were now.

"_Takashi! You all wait by the fence, I am going to gather them and lead them away from you all. But you need to be quiet. We can meet back up at Takagi's place."_

"_Over here!"_

"_No one make a sound... this is our best chance."_

Takashi grimaced. To think a random car exploding in the background of the group would turn into the sole reason that they were now down their best melee fighter, who was forced to leave the group.

"We already lost Saeko to these things. We aren't losing anyone else. Understood?" Takashi said, trying to rally everyone together as a single unit. Yet his hopes were slowly turning to ash. They had been fighting the dead back for hours. They knew that they couldn't last much longer. No one could.

"We need to make a break for it through this fence. Otherwise, we will fall!" Yuuki yelled out as she pulled herself through the roof of the vehicle, wiping sweat from her brow. She had been working hard all day. "Hate to leave this baby behind." she began as she went to a knee on top of the car, "But we are going to have to."

Takashi clenched his fists at that thought. He desperately wanted to believe that things would be better, that things would have gotten better. He wanted to believe that he wasn't a terrible leader... but everything he had done had torn, split, and lead the group astray.

"I'm sorry everyone." Takashi said as he lowered his shotgun in the face of danger. Even with the dead in front of them, he honestly couldn't even bring himself to care. His shoulder was aching in pain from the hours of constant recoil. He was nearly dead on his feet due to the constant running around and mental exhaustion. "You all should go on, I'll hold them off."

"What?" a chorus of yells resounded.

"Takashi!" Saya's voice called out from the back of the group. She was doing her best to keep Shizuka and a young pink haired girl, Alice, behind her. "You can't!" she pleaded.

A grimace appeared on Kohta's face at the plea as he actually missed his target for rare occasion.

"I have to. I'm the leader. I have to make sure everyone is safe." Takashi muttered, swinging his shotgun up lazily to fire off around blast, sending an entire group of zombies sprawling backwards from the spray.

"So you are just going to let yourself get killed? You're just going to die? What if we need a leader later on?" Saya said loudly.

Takashi shook his head, "You have Kohta!" Takashi said loudly, turning briefly to look over his shoulder to the sight of the surprised chubby dark haired boy. Takashi gave the teen a nod of the head, with a determined look in his eyes.

Kohta had to shake off his initial shock to return a nod of his own, even with a frown slowly forming on his face. Although it didn't stop him from taking another shot.

Bullseye!

"I have faith in him. And Saeko will return to you all. She is too stubborn to die." Takashi said with a smile, trying his best to lighten the mood.

"We owe you a lot Komuro!" Yuuki said quickly, as she hopped off the roof of the car before moving to the bed of the vehicle.

Takashi nodded silently before saying, "Get them out of here." he muttered to the large group they had gathered, before he looked down and shook his head.

"Taka-" Saya was cut off by the brown haired boy himself.

"Saito... I'll trade you." he suggested, handing the shotgun toward the lanky boy, leaving an open hand for the bloodied kitchen knife.

"You're serious about this?" The tall lanky computer expert asked with a raised eyebrow as he exchanged the knife with Takashi, before promptly taking a shot to keep the slowly marching dead at bay. "Saeko already tried something similar. Didn't work before."

Takashi shook his head, "Get them out of here Saito. Don't let me change my mind. It's our only shot. Besides, Yuuki is fine with it."

Sure enough, the beautiful shorter haired teen was wasting no time in shuffling Shido out of the back of the car. His braided haired accomplice following shortly behind the man who was having significant trouble breathing. Nana on the other hand Yuuki was being more delicate with due to her severe blood loss. Yet Yuuki didn't seemed phased in the slightest with their situation.

"Komuro. You're going to live with this forever..." Saito said, his lips forming into a thin line.

"Well it's a good thing that forever won't be that long after this then right?" Takashi said as he flipped the blade in his hand around, getting ready for any incoming attackers.

Saito shook his head, "You don't know that." he began, "You don't know what it is like for them... in there..." He said as he pointed to one of the fallen corpse's brains laying across the ground.

Takashi stiffened abruptly at the thought as he realized that this situation could very well lead him to a life of death and excess. A life where his body was no longer his own, but a slave to his hunger.

Takashi's hand tightened around the blade, before he yelled, "Everyone get out of here now damnit!"

Silently he knew after that bomb Saito had dropped on him, any longer and he likely would have wanted to back out on the plan.

The group, despite the protests quickly made their way through the wired fence in an orderly fashion.

"Why are you doing this?" Rei asked quietly as she was one of the last people to go through, bringing up the rear with her spear. "You don't need to hold them off, we can run. We can find another way."

Takashi smiled as he shook his head, "There is no other way."

"There is always another way." A voice said from above the duo, sending a condescending grin downward.

"Wha-" Takashi began, only to be cut off by someone far more passionate.

"Naruto!" Rei cried out.

There the blonde 'stood' floating in mid air beside a red headed woman, stacked upon his shoulders and under his arm were none other than Jin, Rika, and Miyuki.

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Alright another chapter. I will be perfectly honest. I finished this like 3 minutes ago (as of me writing this). And I am really just too lazy to go over it. I didn't really like the chapter again. There is a checklist of things I need to do in these coming chapters, while moving the plot along. And it is getting a bit annoying with longer chapters that are like 5-6k words long, or sometimes even longer. I feel that if I keep going over important events in single chapters, then you don't really get a feel for "Okay this chapter was important because X." Not "This chapter was important because of X, Y, and Z, and in the distant future A, B, and C will make it important again."

Naaaaahhhh...

So from this point on? Expect chapters to be a lot shorter. This isn't going to cripple the story. Admittedly if you are the reader that loves plopping down and reading 6-12 thousand words in a sitting while your bored, rather than a shorter 2000 words. Well then I'm sorry. However from a writing standpoint there is one major thing I would just like to say.

When I started writing this story, and was on a roll? Chapter length didn't matter. I knew the scenes, how they were to be written, and the character's dialog was just flowing out onto the keyboard easily. Yet now much later on into this story? Things aren't as simple. The flow and scenes just aren't as vivid as they were before(Kind of a lie, but the way I would word the scenes is harder because I know them better). I can no longer make super long flowing scenes like you saw with Rei and Naruto earlier in the story, and then slam them all into one chapter.

So for now I am going to try a different style in writing. Hopefully this just means chapters come out more consistently, and the scenes are done better. We will have to see.

x

On another note? If you all are curious about where this story is headed in the next few chapters? Here is some bullet points (Not in order purposely so you don't know what's next).

Naturally arrival at the Takagi household. That arc begins. Ideally everyone you only vaguely know right now should be expanded on. This includes, (Yuuki, Saya, Kohta, Rika, and Shizuka. Perhaps Nana.) To be honest, I don't know how big of a focus Naruto will have at the Takagi household.

Shido recovers and you get to see him take a more prominent role in the story.

**This is huge**: A lot of the characters in Highschool of the Dead have shitty backstories, or just lack backstories entirely. So some of them I just decided to rework from the ground up. (Example, Rika). I have no idea what I am going to do with Shizuka. However Saeko is essentially completely being reworked/built on in this story. Hopefully you like it.

Finally, there have been a couple one liners in this story that hint to a MAJOR twist in the plot. One of them namely points to who this blonde ghostly figure is. Kudos if you can find out who it is, and not just guess, but actually find the line that hints to it.

Have fun everyone.

X

Since the next chapter is going to be highly focused. No preview today.


	18. And Then Death Followed

Alright. Love it or hate it? This chapter/Mini arc is going to be through the joint POV's of Saeko and Naruto.

Naturally I am confident in my capabilities of writing my Naruto. However Saeko here is up in the air, and a work in progress.

Also note that I am creating Saeko's character essentially from scratch. So please be patient with me as her entire character comes into fruition in the next couple chapters.

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"_There were a couple men... that I liked... loved, really."_

Saeko surged upward coughing and sputtering up spit as she roughly rolled onto her side, her vision hazy and fading. Her glazed eyes looking up toward the cloudy sky.

She felt the warm liquid run from the side of her head down her cheek, all the while letting out slow uneven breaths.

The purple haired swordswoman had fallen. But fallen would have been an understatement, as she had fallen hard. The rickety escape ladder positioned above her, bolts having long since rusted over. She knew the moment she set foot out there that it was a bad idea... It was just a better idea than anything else.

A loud thud resounded through the alleyway with a sickening squish filling the young woman's ears upon the foreign impact.

'_Sounded like one of the corpses jumped off the roof and landed flat...' _she idly told herself in her head, only for a frown to come upon her face. _'How much do things have to change for me to recognize a sound such as that...'_ she thought sadly as she forced herself to sit up.

That was when the pain happened. It wasn't an aching pain. It wasn't a soreness. It was a blinding, piercing pain that shot through her arm and her leg.

"_You fight arrogantly with this... but without it you fight like a child with nothing held back. Your hubris will be your downfall."_

Saeko cursed at the memory as tears filled her eye, from the pain. She was a strong woman, but she couldn't help it. Pierced through her leg and through her arm was the shattered remains of her wooden kendo blade.

It had shattered into three pieces, in her grasp was one piece unyielding in any attempts to remove the blade from her grasp. Yet it didn't stop the blade from shattering upon her vicious impact with the ground.

"Uggghhhhh..." a fallen man groaned out from the shadows of the alleyway.

'_Get up Saeko.'_ She thought to herself as she pushed herself up with her uninjured arm, only to lean against the wall as if that alone sapped all of her remaining energy.

She was tired. It was a fact. It was a fact that she would never admit to anyone else. Yet it was a reality that refused to stay buried in the depths of her mind. It only served to become more prevalent every moment that passed, urging her to just collapse and go to sleep. Urging her to stop in a store and eat.

'_You have to move_.' She told herself as she stood up straight, bringing her hand before her eyes blocking the sun that was slowly starting to pierce the clouds. The weather would have been beautiful had it been similar just a week ago.

The purple haired young woman looked over her shoulder briefly, only for a sight that chilled her to the bone. Out of all of the horrors she had seen, from dead children, to zombies walking around with their intestines hanging out. She had been able to handle it.

There was nothing particularly special about him, although it was unnerving. Dressed in a large black hoodie, that still was over his head and completely shadowed over his face in utter blackness. Yet there was one key fact about this zombie that worried Saeko, far more than any other encounter she had formerly.

It was a tune that continually kept getting louder and louder, repeating over and over as the figure continued to approach her. Each step emphasizing the beats. As the hooded figured moved more and more into the light, the sight of two small ruined speakers that had tangled up the figures arm came into light. Both speakers hanging loosely on uneven lengths like scales, swinging up and down as the black hooded figure approached.

The song that was powered likely by a battery pack had served to collect a huge swarm of dead, following behind him searching for Death.

_I keep using my energy... Pushing and shoving my way to please... Almost there almost there, feel like we've been gettin' nowhere..._

Saeko cursed silently to herself. She had been unlucky enough to run into this particular zombie shortly after her departure from the group. And it had been following her ever since with an unquenched hunger as it suffered from it's ever increasing Famine.

She no longer had the time to just stand there are stare at the oncoming figure. To her? That black hooded figure symbolized her coming death. A death that she had no intention of giving into yet.

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Saeko grit her teeth in pain as she rammed a broom through door handles, before she stumbled to the back of the pharmacy she had the grace of luck to find while being followed by that hooded figure.

It wasn't long before she was rummaging through shelf after shelf in hopes to not just help with the damage she had sustained, but hopefully to fill the sports bag she had been lucky enough to obtain when she moved her way through the city, and found one abandoned.

"_You don't even understand a single label on this shelf."_

Saeko shook her head free of the familiar voices that she had been thinking of far too much ever since her talk with Takashi that night.

_Vicodin_

_Perocet_

_Oxycontin_

_Dilaudid_

Saeko tightened her lips. She had no idea what she was looking at. She knew they were pain killer's, but she wasn't a doctor. To be honest, she couldn't even remember the last time she had even been injured. She had no idea how many she should take, or even what she should take. And it was at this time that the pain was slowly starting to come to the forefront of her mind.

A pounding at the door of the establishment alerted her that her wandering party had finally caught up.

"_You're stronger than this, make it back to your group."_

'_Shut up.'_ Saeko told herself as she shook her head free of thoughts. She promptly began filling the bag with anything she could find, and anything she figured that she... or the group may need.

Bandages, painkillers, antibiotics, cleaning agents such as iodine and alcohol. She even poached the medical kit that resided in the back room.

"_Or leave your group. You don't need them anyways. You don't need anyone." _The voice in her head said.

Saeko shook her head thoroughly, _'I'm not like you.'_ she thought stubbornly, only to resist the urge to palm her face realizing that she was talking to herself.

"I think I'm falling apart..." Saeko whispered to herself as she had to take a pause from gathering supplies.

"_Are you now?"_ a voice asked, all too familiar and close for Saeko's liking.

Saeko spun around promptly only to become face to face with a male figure only a few inches taller than her. It was then that the figure struck down with his hand, directly toward her injured leg.

Saeko yelped out and fell to the ground in pain, closing her eyes all the while as she grit her teeth. _'It's not possible...'_ she told herself as she slowly opened her eyes, her injured leg hurting far worse than she had ever acknowledged before.

Yet when she opened her eyes. The figure was gone.

A loud crash alerted the purple haired swordswomen that despite her pain, and her confusion, she needed to move. The footfalls of the dead were on hot on her heels.

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_I think I'm going to get there..._

Saeko cursed her luck as she did her best to move her fastest up what felt like the never ending staircase. She had long since lost track of how long she had been moving. It truly felt like years. Her wounded leg still an unbearable pain that never ceased. Every step was agony. Yet it was her only option.

It wasn't hard to spot the large and elegant Takagi household. If you even wanted to call it a household. It was easily the size of a mansion that you would only assume could house large celebrities. However every twist, every alley, every turn. The streets were swarming with dead. Not tens, not hundreds, it _had_ to be the thousands. She had not seen this many dead walking in the streets... ever. Not even with their incident at Rika's apartment, and the flood of zombies entering.

And truth be told... she knew exactly why.

_Gonna get there, gonna get there... there..._

Saeko squeezed her eyes shut as she reached the top of the stairs, the sound following behind her unable to escape her ears. _That song_. The same song that had been playing from that beast's speakers never stopped. It would just play over and over and over. Yet there was nothing that stopped it's unending march.

'_How is that thing even still following me?'_ Saeko thought weakly as she wiped her hand over her forehead, smearing blood over her face. _'Takagi-san said that these things are only able to track by sound. This doesn't make sense.'_ Saeko thought grimly, looking over her shoulder as the hooded figure's head slowly made it's presence known from the bottom of the staircase.

Saeko tightened her jaw to bite back the pain, and her exhaustion. She quickly spun around to overlook the building before her.

A large, elegant, yet old japanese home. Or perhaps it was a Dojo. Saeko couldn't tell as she swayed on her feet from her injuries. And as far as she was concerned, it didn't matter what the building was, as long as she could be safe.

_Don't know when, don't know how..._

Saeko limped up to the building as quick as she possibly could, gym bag slung over her shoulder. She approached the wooden doors easily, although no longer moving much faster than those that were following her. Yet it was then that her worst nightmares were found.

'_Locked?'_ she realized in panic. _'No..._' she realized as she pounded against the double doors. The doors weren't just locked, they were barred shut.

"Help me! Please!" she called out as she opened the doors just slightly. She would be too lucky if inside the building before her, there were survivors. Survivors that could help her. _'Although I suppose there is always a chance for the survivors to be like him...'_

Saeko thought dryly as she was brought back to one night she had been attacked on the streets by a man. Although she had her blade. So naturally... that was foolish of him.

'_My blade...'_ Saeko pursed her lips as she had long since left the wooden handle of the blade behind in order to carry the gym bag. All that remained of what was her prized possession was a long wooden shard stabbed directly into her leg. She had nothing to defend herself.

"Anyone!" she yelled out again as she tried to slam her full body against the doors in hopes to break it down, even if she knew it was futile.

_Pushing but that will hold me down, down, down, down..._

Saeko cursed as the music had officially grown to be right behind her.

"Fine." she muttered to the steadily approaching figure, as she dropped her gym bag to her side. "I accept my fate." she said she she stood tall and proud.

The hooded figure, the embodiment of famine, a slave to it's hunger, lunged jaws wide open.

Death would surely follow.

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Anyways like I said, a short chapter. And I am going to try writing like this for awhile now.

If you are wondering the song playing on the hooded figure's speakers? I suggest you listen to the song "Getting Nowhere" by Magnetic Man.

Naturally I imagine you all can see the "Theme" that this chapter is showcasing(hopefully, I wasn't very subtle about it.)

So anyways since the chapters are shorter, I can cut back significantly on the AN's. Have a great day everyone.


	19. Final Chapter

I decided that with how my life is now? I simply wont be able to finish this story as much as I may like to. And I never wrote down my ideas in the first place, so they have been slowly fading, as has my inspiration.

However I felt to leave the story, and my stories in general completely unresolved would be wrong. So I will be posting this final chapter that would go into how the story would have unfolded. The character development arcs, and where everyone was going to go in the story, and what was going to happen.

And I plan to hopefully do it in a way where despite it not being a full story? You will enjoy it's final chapter.

So now I will write this as if I were to go back to the story.

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I'd scrap the last couple chapters. Kagura was supposed to be dark but at the same time powerful. The almost stereotypical character that had nothing and came to power and it corrupted her.

I felt that I didn't adequately show that and introduce her, and as such I built the arc little by little by little, with minimal pay off.

The arc was going to really showcase Jin as a character as well as Miyuki's introduction to the storyline. And Miyuki was going to be used more as Naruto's protector during this arc once he loses consciousness. This would be when Jin is running off looking for his Mother.

The arc was also going to showcase Rika. What ended up happening sadly is that I was losing interest and I wanted to rush the story. And I didn't really give Rika her justice in particular.

What happens to Rika is that her helicopter with Tajima only has fuel for a one way trip, a fact that he chooses to not tell Rika because he deep down just wants her to be happy. It becomes quite evident that Tajima and Rika's relationship is both a partnership, but also a bit of unrequited love.

They end up over the city, and Tajima reveals their fuel problem and Rika freaks. She never would have gone along with this plan if she had known. Just because she cares about Shizuka doesn't mean she didn't care about Tajima's well being.

Tajima laughs it off as Rika scrambles to get the lone parachute prepped to try and take them both. However Tajima says that he will just hook onto her, and for her to get it on because they are pressed on time.

Well needless to say, the moment comes where Tajima needs to hook onto Rika. He instead kisses her forehead acting like he is moving closer to attach himself before he pushes her out of the helicopter.

Rika crash lands into a fence on top of a building, while the helicopter crashes down to the city floor below, but it actually doesn't have the immediate explosion on impact of the casual tragic story.

Instead it crashes down and Rika rushes to the destruction through herds upon herds of zombies rushing around to the noise. Yet upon arrival, she merely sees him dead, impaled on a piece of metal.

I wanted it to feel real, and cold, and not very easy. There wasn't a dramatic explosion. It didn't explode on impact, nor did she run to the fallen helicopter only for it to explode when she if 10 feet from it, flinging her backwards.

Hes just dead. And as she removes his gun from the helicopter, he starts to turn in front of her, where she ends him with his own knife, before being forced to flee from the incoming zombie flood.

That was going to be Rika's initial arc. And when you finally see her and Naruto inevitably standing off from each other, for the first time in this story you would get to see two soldiers. Soldiers that had both lost a lot, with no guarantee of anything good happening in the future for either of them.

Those are some things I really wish I slowed down to showcase in this arc. I felt I showcased Jin well enough, but fell short in other areas.

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So the story carries on to this point here with Saeko, and Naruto returning to the group with Kyuubi.

Originally I didn't plan for Naruto to get his powers back so soon. I was planning for them to return little by little over time. Or for him to only be able to use his powers in short bursts.

His relationship with Kyuubi is very much loving but also toxic and antagonistic. They grew up hating each other, and not really respecting each other. Yet they both realized with time that they were stuck together, and that neither of their ideals or methods were foolproof. And they both changed over time to accommodate one another. And that relationship grew into a silent loving relationship, but one that would always be antagonistic first and foremost.

So with Naruto's powers. Naruto returns to the group, and is the closest thing to a god that they really have in the world.

And Rin's heart is immediately warmed at his return. But then she realized that with his return, and his return of his powers that he couldn't stick around for that long.

And with that thought in mind, Naruto takes off after Saeko.

(On a side note, I was going to make the world so that he couldn't simply make clones for whatever reasons in the world.)

Saeko in this meantime has been running away from a flood of zombies. And I wanted my zombies in this story to still feel like zombies. I didn't want to go the cliche route of tanks and abominations running around. That isn't what I wanted. Just zombies. However that doesn't mean you can't make zombies unique in some way.

This one happened to have a radio wrapped around him, and he was actually deaf, but he could see. This is how he was able to follow Saeko indefinitely over countless miles.

Saeko as you saw gets injured and eventually gets herself backed into a corner where it becomes do or die for her. And then, shortly after, Naruto shows up.

I was then going to make Naruto's chakra fizzle out a bit forcing them to retire in the small dojo or whatever for the night much like canon. I felt it brought a lot to the character of Saeko, and without it she is rather dull.

Yet I mentioned I was reworking Saeko from the ground up correct?

Saeko was never very friendly with Naruto, I am sure you can see that. She frankly didn't see him as that great of a leader in contrast to someone compassionate like Takashi. Two very different forms of being a leader.

Yet as Naruto is fixing her injury, they are forced to bear each other's company. She questions how he was able to do "Those things" which is equivalent to how he took out the zombies with use of wind chakra that immediately diced them all into sushi without even touching them.

Naruto reveals his past, because there is no reason to hide it at this point. He has his powers back. And Kyuubi is at his side. He feels that the things that could oppose him at this point in the world went from the unknown to effectively none overnight.

You get into Saeko's past here. Saeko reveals more about this "Brother" that she spoke of earlier to Takashi. How he was powerful. That she had never seen anything move like him until Naruto came along. Even her former boyfriend/lover couldn't do such a thing.

In question to the lover, she explains further how the relationship was.

She grew up with her brother. Loving, protective, caring, and strong. He was always looking out for her without fail. He loved her. And with their mother completely out of the picture, their father was an overbearing parent. Forcing his son to take on martial arts much like he had, and his father before him. Saeko's brother excelled, triumphed even. For some reason his skills were seemingly unparalleled by anyone.

He went across the country beating martial arts competition after competition. If you want an idea to this character concept? You can think almost like Sagat from Street Fighter. A full on prodigy, and he wasn't even in highschool.

Time carries on and he enters High School. Quickly joins all three martial arts clubs in the school. Sword, Spear, and hand to hand combat. In his first year, with his already large skillset he becomes the forefront leader of all martial arts in their school. Taking up the mantle in effectively every club. However he is only the "Head" of the swordsmanship club.

Saeko arrives at the school X amount of years later and joins the kendo club herself, cast into her brother's shadow. A boy her age whom joined the hand to hand club however takes an interest in her, and they quickly begin dating. His drive and ambition to become strong, stronger than even her brother drew her to him, when her brother was outright ignoring her.

It is only once she begins dating that the relationships in her life begin to get very blurred. Their father at this point is out of the picture, and it is only them.

Saeko's brother's love for his sister has grown almost possessively. It is almost like he was slowly being driven insane, and Saeko dating his friendly rival in the hand to hand club, the straw that broke the camels back.

It becomes evident in Saeko's story that her brother was romantically attracted to her, and not in the brother sister sense in the slightest.

Yet Saeko... didn't care.

(I always felt that Saeko was the slightest bit off, and I wanted that to show even in her past.)

Her boyfriend finds out about this betrayal and is disgusted and angered at this. His rival who he could never beat (Much like a relationship between canon Naruto and Sasuke) moved in on his own sister. He took this as a personal attack more so than their romance being about Saeko's brother's feelings.

Saeko's boyfriend ends up sleeping with Saeko's brother's girlfriend. (Sorry if the titles are causing a headache, I never really thought up names for my characters. I kinda do that on the spot.) And then he trains, and trains, and trains.

Meanwhile Saeko's brother falls ill.

Saeko and her ex-boyfriend come to reconcile in some ways, evident that they still love each other. Yet there is also the underlying statement that they both know things can never be the same.

Eventually the schools competition comes up, and both her boyfriend and her brother are the finalists, and truthfully the match everyone has been waiting to see.

They battle it out, and it is shown how much Saeko's boyfriend has grown. He is no longer the underdog he used to be. While her brother may be ill? Right now they stand as equals in battle.

Yet their fight gets out of hand. Saeko's boyfriend ends up killing her brother.

She cuts the story off here, allowing Naruto, and more importantly you, see her completely bare. She revealed a truth that she buried away, and a reality that was hidden from all of the other students that they are running around with.

She then states that she shared a lot about herself, and prompts Naruto to share something about himself, as they have all night.

I won't' go into this in full. However you are allowed to take a look at another flashback during the war. Originally I intended for this to be a flashback between him and Konan.

However with the more recent chapters, I would have it Naruto speaking with the former Hokages. And his own personal ideals, and how far he is willing to go in order to win the war putting everyone at odds and on edge. And to showcase how cold Naruto could be in his own world.

You are however brought back to reality with this lingering darkness, but also a sense of both Naruto and Saeko are similar in a way. They carry their darkness around with them. The difference is that Naruto has learned to live with it, and hasn't let it consume him. Where as Saeko constantly fights against it at every waking moment, and she slowly cracks because sometimes just her fighting isn't enough.

But with two people laid bare emotionally, they eventually choose to lay with each other (I would want to just say have sex, but that is blunt and tacky.)

That concludes essentially Naruto's time with Saeko. You get to see a very different Saeko. A damaged Saeko that hides behind layers like an onion so that people can't truly see how fucked up she really is, and the fucked up choices she has made and gotten into at a spur of a moment. An underlying theme in this is that she isn't quite sure if sleeping with Naruto was just another one of those moments, or something more to her.

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So now we are brought to the mansion. There were probably going to be a couple scenes of everyone settling in while Naruto is away. A brief interrogation/introduction to Kyuubi with the group, as well as a mini reunion with Rika and Shizuka. But overall most of the stuff is put on hold until Naruto returns.

Now here is the kicker.

Time.

In the series, It takes them what 2 days or so to reach Saya's house? Well it was considerably longer for their group this time.

The arrival at the mansion is much more somber than in the actual series. It was overrun. The water plants have been shut down. The group was forced to clear the mansion in order to stay there, but not without the emotional turmoil.

With the sense of safety that the mansion brought, and the fact that it is gone, it allows me to continue to build the tension, and the characters never really get a true sense of rest (Ex such as the shower scene in canon, or the bathing between Naruto and Rei.)

Anyways the characters that really get focused on in this part of the story are both Saya and Kohta. However the underlying tones of this part of the story would be the growing frustrations between the members of the group, and the silent thoughts of splitting up.

I will be honest, I hadn't fully planned out Saya's character arch here at this point. I was more so going to wing it because I had a general idea of where I wanted to take Saya. If we are all completely honest? Saya's character is pretty much a carbon copy of Sakura minus the boobs and glasses.

A book worm genius character that belittles her teammate in order to make herself seem superior and feel better. Yet the truth in the matter is that when it comes down to the wire in the heat of battle, those that she belittles often surpass her and perform better.

Saya has a really hard time adjusting to the world, and this only becomes further profound upon having to bury the corpses of her parents upon arriving at her family home. Yet the true killer that really makes scenario hard for her to swallow is she watches the security footage in the mansion from various cameras on how her parents ended up dying.

The fact that they are dead hurt her. But the fact that she ended up watching them only served to make the wound deeper.

Yet her attitude with everyone thus far in the story has essentially alienated herself from the rest of the group with the exception of Takashi, whom she turns to for comfort.

Yet Takashi denies her, because the star crossed lovers scenario has returned full force with the members amongst the group.

Takashi is now reminded visibly that Rei has feelings for Naruto, as she takes to trying to spend more time with him now than ever.

Yet Jin's presence also serves to throw Rei emotionally for a loop, and their unresolved friendship/romance never truly came to fruition. And there is still a bit of tension between them because of Jin's feelings for her, even if he doesn't announce them.

Yuuki's mood sours at the introduction of Miyuki, an older girl. But it only further sours when Jin starts spending time with Miyuki more often than not. And the fact that she is no longer his "Go to" person. Yuuki starts to feel like a bit of an outcast, with the only person she can actually really even go to spend time with is Kohta.

Rei however is hurt. It is the only way I can really describe it. Ever get a crush on someone? But then you get to watch them run around with their boy or girlfriend, or talk about who they have a crush on? And then you are just left standing as if to say "I'm right here!"

Generally everyone has been in that stage at some point in their life. It isn't a fun feeling. And the reality is that not everyone can always get what they want.

Rei gets this reminded to her full force with Naruto's return. Naruto returns to the party, but he isn't the Naruto that would spend time with her, take baths with her, save her from rapists. The one that she had become truly intimate with. He now had others on his plate. Kyuubi. Ayane who he also saved. The larger group.

And _Saeko_. The one that hurts the most is Saeko. The fact that her disappearance seemingly allowed for her to sweep in on Naruto. And it is blatantly obvious by how they used to act, and how they act around each other by the time they reach the mansion that their relationship changed. And this hurts Rei a lot more than she realized. She realizes that she cared a lot more about Naruto then she let on.

Speaking of Ayane. You still don't learn much about her yet. Truth be told, she is supposed to be a rather mysterious character for the majority of the story. You get to see her become closer to Naruto during their stay at the mansion, but that is really all that happens.

The only thing of note about her is that Ino's spirit/ghost (I am not sure if I showcased this in the story already or not) says that there is something off about Ayane.

(On the off chance you haven't caught the idea of Ino's ghost/spirit? There was literally a one line hint in the story earlier where Team 10 goes after Kisame in the war, and Ino reveals that she missed her mind transfer and her soul clings to the greatest abundance of chakra in order to sustain her, which happens to be Naruto.)

You don't really learn much about Saito here.

Shido is on the mend.

Nana (Raped girl) is on the emotional mend.

The girl who worships Shido, I don't even know if I gave her a name or even used it in the story. I think I always referred to her as the dark haired girl. Well, she doesn't matter. I'll just be blunt. She was going to die. I just don't know when.

Anyways carrying on to Kohta. I had this plot idea thought out well before I even knew about The Walking Dead lol... So I think you will see some similarities here.

Kohta cuts himself off from the group and is forcing himself to come to terms with the fact that it seems he will always come in second place to all of the other guys in their group. Particularly in regards to Takashi and Saya. A fact that is killing him inside, because he has a huge crush on the pink haired genius.

But he doesn't want to confront anyone, Kohta isn't a confrontational person. So instead he buries himself in work, and his thoughts, away from the group. Discovering the Humvee. Some spare weapons. Even the mansion's security systems.

And as such, Takashi can't really see Kohta's emotions, and continues to try and continue what was formerly a rather good friendship.

It is this cross that is difficult for the chubby boy to process. You get to see his damage, and the weight that he was formerly considering shooting Takashi is really eating him up.

However in this train of thought, he is left as the last person awake in the mansion after staying there for a few days to try and rest. He looks over the security footage.

Saya's family wasn't just killed by zombies. They were _murdered_ by people using zombies in the night.

A scream rips through the compound as the mansion is attacked, and flooded once again with zombies.

I could go in depth on the whole conflict, but there would be little purpose in that when I am just streaming my thoughts of how the story would plan out.

So Naruto saves Rei, Ayame, Saeko, Miyuki, Jin, and Rika as if he was picking people to saved based on how much he cares about them/spent time with them. Although he doesn't realize it.

The events leave both Saito and Shido's play thing bitten. The later of them dying instantly. Saito however serves as the groups first true death where they had actually gotten quite close to a member of the group.

(Note: Saito actually had his own little arc idea where he was going to stay behind at Saya's house in an effort to use their resources to try and seek help. But I decided against it.)

They fend off the attack, but the mansion is no longer for them to stay in. Burying their bodies beside Saya's parents, they press on.

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(Now I realize one of the unspoken questions above here about people actually being bitten is why Naruto couldn't save them all with his powers? Why couldn't Kyuubi help? Well Kyuubi doesn't want to help these people, like Naruto feels obligated to. I mentioned above that their relationship is antagonistic. Well sometimes Kyuubi opposes Naruto just to oppose him. Kyuubi feels that they have greater things that they should be trying to do than babysitting and delivering Ayane to her parents.)

Anyways The story is about a third done, perhaps half way if I wanted to cut it short at this point. Now at this point the chapter layouts will change from more character focused as you have seen in the past. (EX: Naruto and Rei split from the group, or Naruto Saeko, Naruto Jin, Takashi Yuuki, etc etc etc)

They instead will change more to what I consider like a TV series. Most TV series episodes have a focus/goal of the episode that gets done by the end of the episode, and has the most attention. Yet as a side note, pretty much every character is put in the spotlight briefly so everyone's story continues to carry on.

So now that the group is fully together. Some of the events that happened by now have brought the group together and allowed them to gel, despite there being the few internal issues amongst them.

Now off to the shopping mall they go!

This is really the second time where everyone gets to relax and have their fun in the series. I felt there was a lot of potential for fun in this part of the story that was really not touched upon.

However amidst the fun, this is also the arc where Shido really starts to showcase his true self. And with no "Sidekick" there to keep him relatively evened out? He starts to roam around unchecked.

So I could go in depth with all of the various characters and how they develop here. But just know that

Naruto and Rika begin to bond as being the only two soldiers in the group. His rough around the edges approach to things, and more violent nature has set people on edge around him with the exception of Jin/Rei/Ayane/Miyuki.

Rei confronts Naruto about her feelings and demands the truth from him about what happened with him and Saeko, because she can sense that there is more that they aren't letting on.

Similarly Yuuki confronts Jin about his feelings for Rei, and why he has just been ignoring her. And particularly why he keeps hanging around "That Miyuki girl".

Kohta continues to fall from the deeper end little by little as he continues to see Saya pay him absolutely no mind, and follow Takashi without fail when he continues to ignore her.

Naruto begins to not directly speak with Alice, but he is in general curious about her whereabouts and her safety. His conversations about it are mainly with Shizuka. Other than that you don't really see Alice at all.

Naruto has a closed door conversation with Ayane where he is asking for "the truth" from her. You don't see the conversation, you just know that they have it.

During this time of their conversation. Nana is stabbed, and murdered with a kunai knife where she was sleeping in her room.

You will notice that throughout the entire story, I have never let Naruto leave any of his weapons lying around.

The group thinks Naruto killed the girl for this reason, and that he has fallen off the deep end. How else would she be killed? Someone steal from Naruto? That is damn unlikely.

Immediately the group is turned on it's head and their vacation is over.

"Of course Ayane would lie for you about where you were."

"How else would she be killed by that weapon."

Questions that no one can effectively answer. Except Naruto who has his own sinking suspicion.

Naruto allows himself to be "locked up" by the group in one of the stores, behind a gate. Although there is a silent consensus between everyone that they all know Naruto is merely cooperating, and if he wanted to leave, he would.

Rei not believing Naruto's guilt turns to Jin for help, as he is the only one who has really spent as much time with Naruto as she has. Jin, just happy to be in Rei's company agrees to help out, particularly because he knows Naruto is innocent.

Yet when Rei begins to spin and twist the conversation believing that the murder was perhaps committed by Miyuki, as she was the only one ever around Naruto when he was unconscious? The group begins to almost rally their pitchforks against her.

Rika, Naruto, and Jin begin to take the brunt of the blame for bringing a murderer into their group.

They believe they have it all figured out, and they release Naruto putting Miyuki in "jail" instead.

It is now that Naruto wanders up to where Shido is staying in the shopping center. And at the end of the chapter they have the big "Case Closed" reveal. Ideally this would have fooled most of the readers I hope.

Naruto commends Shido. "That was very clever, using my own weapon to make it look as if I committed murder. You being at the forefront of this investigation, putting you into a better light with the group. Yet now we have an innocent girl sitting down in a jail cell while you remain up here... looking down on everybody else."

Shido tenses up realizing his situation in proximity to Naruto.

"It is a shame that Miyuki did such a thing. Nana was a nice girl. In my hindsight, I wish I could have helped her more than what I did." Shido tries to play the dramatic and helpful teacher.

Naruto smirks, "Always an actor through and through. You may have everyone else fooled, but I know the truth."

Shido pales slightly.

"It took me a long time thinking when I was locked away. When did I ever give a kunai to anyone? When could anyone have possibly taken one. The only option was Miyuki. Yet while that girl has a fire in her, there is no way that she could have possibly done such a thing as kill a young girl. But then I had that thought..."

"There was one time I carelessly left a kunai behind. The first moment we got off that bus... I seem to recall that you were the last person off the bus Shido..."

Shido realizes he has been caught and it is unlikely he will get in the groups good graces with Naruto around, "Fine, you caught me. But you'll never be able to prove it."

"Who said anything about proof?"

Naruto takes Shido, picks him up, and throws him off the balcony to everyone else below. Everyone looks up and sees Naruto, not trying to hide from the murder in the slightest.

The unspoken thought for the collective group now without Shido/Naruto to reveal the truth is

"Is Naruto really the murderer?"

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The story picks up with a time skip, about a week. You don't really know what is going on. Naruto has left the group despite Rei begging for him to stay. Those that followed him were Ayane with no surprise. And then Yuuki, with much surprise. Stating that "No one here gives a shit about me anymore." a comment directed towards Jin.

Takashi takes point of the main group once again, aimed towards following the canon path to Rei's parents/His parents. They leave a week after Naruto's group has been on the road.

During Naruto's travels you see them encounter Yuuki's older sister. A cold older sister that was in gangs, a bit abusive, and was a pretty bad example. She ended up getting Yuuki into boosting cars, and theft among other things. It is how Yuuki is always at the forefront of the vehicle repairs.

More of their past unveils as the chapters go on depicting their week split from the group.

Yuuki lost her virginity to her older sister's boyfriend. Their relationship has been strained and difficult ever since.

Ino becomes more of a prevalent force and guide through the world while Naruto is split from the group. Her insight proving to be invaluable, but also seemingly... too knowledgeable for her own good.

Ayane also begins to speak more as you get closer and closer to her family home.

The focus on Naruto however goes dark the moment Naruto enters their family home and is introduced to her father from across the room. All Naruto says is.

"You..."

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A rather standard close to canon plot begins to unfold with Takashi's group.

The main thing that is really happening with the plot in Takashi's group is that Kohta starts to oppose Takashi's leadership much more regularly. He becomes less patient with Kohta.

Saya criticizes Takashi for not trying to assert his leadership over Kohta in private, which in turn causes him to blow up at her and revealing the truth to her.

"You want to know why he is acting like this? He fucking loves you and you don't give a shit. You don't pay attention to him at all. All you do is insult him. Do you think we could have survived this without him? I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am to him."

This arc with Takashi and Kohta leads up to an encounter between the two, where Kohta is prepared to kill Takashi.

Saya tries to talk some sense into Kohta in his final moments. But her attention to him, it is too little too late.

The group is forced to watch on when they believe Kohta is going to kill Takashi.

"What is so special about you?" Kohta wonders aloud. But then he takes a look at Takashi, and where he is standing. The entire group on the sidelines prepared to step in, perhaps even take a bullet for him.

"I see..." Kohta mutters, before he flips the gun on himself.

Takashi however yells out, "Kohta don't! You can live and get through this!"

Kohta looks across the group, "For what?" and pulls the trigger, killing himself.

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I always felt the highschool of the dead cast was really biased towards Takashi. But Misaki(Is that the cop's name?) she gave Kohta some sense of worth and balance that he seriously needed. So this is a take on what if he never really got that? What if he always felt second place, and unnecessary? Useless to the group and always in the shadows, not really wanting to live. Nothing had changed for him since school.

So he took his own life.

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And now we are 2/3 done with the story. The mall being the really long arc that is used to fill in the character developmental holes and bring everyone together into a unit, as well as to deal with Shido.

So we pick off with "You..."

Naruto's world is destroyed and wrecked around him.

The chakra. The silvery hair of Ayane. It all makes sense now with the person standing before him.

It was Hidan. Hidan was Ayane's father.

And Now the climax of the story unfolds as the world you, the readers, have come to know crumbles down around you. Hidan's mere presence shatters any ideas Naruto formerly had.

Naruto from day one has always believed he was in a different world. And he instantly jumped to that conclusion, after all... why wouldn't he? The story is mainly shown through the first person view of Naruto and Takashi, with the occasional first person of other character's views on Naruto. Naruto thinks he is in a new world, so when I have been writing this story, it has always been about Naruto protecting this cast of characters while trying to make his way back to his home to help in the war.

The catch is...

Naruto never left his world like you are all lead to believe. He is simply in a very distant future where in his world, with his absence, Madara won. And Madara used his powers to make chakra virtually nonexistent in the new offspring around the world. The barest of bare minimums of chakra in order to survive.

Now hundreds of years into the future with Madara having achieved his goal of world domination? A world at peace through mind control? The world developed a level of peace.

However as you come to learn, peace never lasts forever.

The zombie virus(Hidan explains). All knowledge of chakra was wiped out thanks to the orange masked man. Then this zombie plague is let loose? Why?

Every single living thing even in modern day still has the faintest of faint bits of chakra in their system. If you were to compare Lee to the people of the modern day? Lee had Hokage size chakra coils.

However as generation of generations goes on with people breeding with poor chakra coils. The chakra diminishes and diminishes. However... aren't you supposed to die if your body runs out of chakra?

Well the nature of a world wide plague that prevented chakra coils from growing further passed infancy was made air born by Madara, and saturates the very air one breaths. So unless someone was born to shinobi parents, and then their coils essentially being forced to grow by someone channeling chakra through them? They would practically have no chakra system.

However this plague that was sent out made it so those people that "Die" due to chakra simply leaving their system before their bodies were logically supposed to give out(old age, or died in combat). They would turn into zombies.

The bite that Zombies do in order to infect people isn't really an infection. The bite is them trying to suck out any bit of chakra they can regain some of their own chakra in order for their bodies to subconsciously and turn back to normal.

However their chakra pathways are practically squeezed shut, so the method is just a one way street unless their coils were forced open somehow when they were younger. So essentially when a zombie bites you, it is simply inflicting a wound, and draining the chakra people have in their system that is needed to live. Then they too become zombies as consequence.

So that is the zombie virus in a nutshell in this world.

It is also revealed that Ino has obviously been lying to Naruto. She didn't cling onto Naruto's chakra system. She has been roaming the world for thousands of years as a ghost/spirit.

And she was trying to take over Naruto's body earlier in the story, in hopes that she could become whole again.

So this is the major twist in the story. Naruto has been wanting to go home this entire time, only to be revealed that there is no home to go back to.

Hidan reveals that Madara is still alive and hiding from the world.

Naruto puts it upon himself stating that he will go out and find Madara, but before he does that, he has to take care of some things. And he vanishes, a man now on a mission, with his duty to Ayane complete.

(I am grazing over everything that happens with Naruto and Hidan, and just hitting the main talking points.)

Takashi's group reaches the school where it is revealed Rei's mother as well as Takashi's mother, and Jin's mother have held themselves up inside. They have stayed their protecting the young children from the outside in a cafeteria. However they have started to run out of food, and there isn't much they can do.

Jin finally reunites with his mother, something that was a long time coming.

Alice displays use of chakra, and walks on the walls, shocking everyone.

Takashi, Rei, and Jin finally talk things over amongst themselves after finally receiving some parental guidance for the first time in the story. Albeit cliche, she reveals that at a time she really did love them both for different reasons, and she never wanted to cause a fight between the two. But those times have come to an end, and that she honestly cares about someone else now.

Takashi relents his feelings knowing that she cares about Naruto more than anyone else right now.

However this allows him to finally move on and talk to Saya about her own feelings for him.

Saeko and Rei finally have their own talk regarding Naruto, even though he is absent. There is no reason for the two of them to be at odds ends over someone. He truthfully never made a commitment to either of them. And they realize that, and hope he is okay out there wherever he is.

The school and it's poor defenses get broken into by zombies, flooding the halls and threatening everyone inside.

"Starts at a school, and ends at a school eh?" The group muse as they are locked in.

Takashi and both Jin choose to step up and try and protect everyone. No longer hostile with each other, but working together. However before Takashi leaves, Saya kisses him in hopes that it will give him luck and bring him back safe.

Similarly Saeko and Rei go out as well in their own hopes to defend the children.

Naruto arrives on the scene and is forced to choose between going after and saving Saeko and Rei, or Takashi and Jin.

He saves both Saeko and Rei, before rushing after Jin and Takashi.

However he isn't fast enough. Jin and Takashi were cornered.

Jin sacrifices his own life so that Takashi can live. "Look after my mom... and Rei for me. Tell them I love 'em. You're the one with someone to live for."

Naruto saves the remains of the group and fortifies their position while he mourns the closest thing to a friend he has had in this new world... no this future he has found himself in.

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Rei and Naruto's relationship finally comes to the forefront as it has been building for the majority of the story. But they never really acted further on it.

They share a rather passionate kiss, but Naruto reveals that he needs to leave shortly after.

Rei can't believe it. That this person she has come to love can just so casually leave her behind, after he admits that he cares about her as well.

Rei turns away to hide her tears and goes back to the group saying, "I'm not going to beg... I may be the one walking away, but you're the one who's leaving, again..."

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The final scene takes place a year later. Naruto has allied with Hidan and found Madara in the sky country flying village, flying in the bermuda triangle.

The Madara here is the old, ancient Madara you see Obito encounter, attached to a long cord barely keeping himself alive. A large circular hole in the ceiling that allows the moonlight to shine down into the room.

After a long exchange of words, Naruto demands that they fix things. The world that had advanced, but had also become ruined without the presence of chakra.

Ino and Kyuubi both make their presence known in this confrontation.

Hidan, Ino, Kyuubi, Naruto, and Madara. The last surviving remnants of the shinobi world.

Madara reveals that he agrees with Naruto, and that he had made a mistake. This was the world he never had intended to create. He never truly created peace. There was still wars, with or without chakra.

At least with chakra, the strength of a powerful man could change the world. The strength of his hard work. Later in history with the absence of chakra, the evil and corrupt ruled through birthright and wealth.

Yet he never had the power to individually change things. It would require too much chakra for him to change things.

To wrap it all up however. There was going to be two different endings to this story.

Ending one: Naruto and Madara have their final confrontation, and it is incredibly hostile. They wage war against each other, and destroy the sky country flying construct. Yet during their battle a moment comes where they stand on completely equal footing.

Kyuubi gives her own life to push Naruto over the edge, and help him defeat Madara once and for all. The result ends up sending Naruto tumbling through space and time once again.

And the parralell here that I really wanted to show was that this would be the introduction to any other crossover story I chose to do next. And much like when Master Chief gets stranded in space on the Forward Unto Dawn. His final words before Cryo sleep were "Wake me when you need me."

And as such, that would be Naruto's fate. And now you know where the title was inspired from.

Ending two: Madara and Naruto use their Rinnegan and link up with the rest of the world in hopes to revive everyone who had fallen to this zombie attack. And Kyuubi, Hidan, and Ino use their chakra in order to help and make it happen. However they know that whether this succeeds or fails, it will kill them.

The sky is coated in light. And you are left wondering whether they succeed or not in their venture.

There may or may not be an epilogue that would allow Rei and the readers to question Naruto's fate, as she sees a blonde haired individual watching over her from the top of a hill. But she isn't quite sure if it was indeed Naruto, or if she was just seeing things at that point since he had left her.

Either way, it really changes nothing to the ending besides allowing you to wonder a bit more about the success of their plan.

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Anyways I intended for the first crossover ending to actually be the canon ending. The second ending more so developed to be a close to their story individually.

So I know it isn't the full story. However I realistically just didn't have the time to write out the full story, and I didn't want to leave you all hanging. I have been working on the story synopsis' for Consequences of an Honest Enemy and Freedom Has A Price as well. However those stories are significantly longer, so they are taking some time.

On a side note. If you were interested as to where Naruto was heading next, spiraling through the universe?

It was probably going to be Warcraft or Mass Effect. Possibly Avengers if I really wanted to change things up for my style of writing.

Anyways I hope you all enjoyed the ride. I know there are probably going to be questions. Truth be told, I wrote all of this out in one sitting without really thinking all that much about it. So there may be plot holes or ideas missing or not discussed. I accept that. And they would have been filled in the final story. So I encourage anyone with questions to just post them. If they are actually pretty good questions, I'll do a final edit to this chapter and add in the answers.

So again, I'm sorry for not being able to continue this. I hope that this final chapter at least allows you to appease your curiosity and allows you to enjoy what could have been, rather than just another story left unfinished on FF dot Net.


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